Sudden Madness
by ToffyBird
Summary: Murders have been going on in Gotham city and the Batman and Joker have been blamed for it. Both of them need to figure out what is going on without getting killed themselves. This takes place after TDK but before TDKR. *Formally 'Playing Hide and Seek'*
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, so I changed/ edited stuff in the story and i got lazy so i just reposted all of my chapters, do not be alarmed, everything is normal, oh and sorry if you can't see any of the changes, they are only minor, i just thought they needed putting in to make the story better.**

**Enjoy! **

**No characters are mine**

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><p>"…<em>Three more deaths have been reported last night, the main suspects for this gruesome killing is the Batman or the Joker; who escaped Arkham Asylum earlier this week…"<em>

Bruce sighed and switched off the T.V, closing his eyes, he slouched down into his sofa, 'First the Joker, now this...' he thought.

"Master Bruce?" Bruce's eyes snapped open, Alfred, his butler and oldest friend, was standing in front of him, "Sorry to disturb you, sir, but it's time for dinner."

He blinked, stared at Alfred then gave a little nod.

"Are you alright sir?" He questioned a look of worry in his old eyes.

"Yes, just got a lot on my mind. I'll be there in a moment." He sat up straight, looking down at his hands on his lap.

"Of course, sir." And with that Alfred left for the kitchen leaving Bruce on his own, he rubbed the bridge of his nose then stood up and followed his friend.

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><p>Meanwhile at the Narrows in an abandoned apartment, the Joker stood up and kicked an old, dusty box shaped T.V with enough force to crack the screen and knock it over, "AHH! How could those fools think I did that! The poor souls didn't even have, uh, <em>smiles<em> on their faces, heehee, and the Bat he wouldn't even kill a fly let alone do tha_t_!" The Joker stopped, panting heavily; he looked down at the now blank T.V screen, "Great, how am I supposed to get another one of those? That was probably an antique…" The Joker paused and a smile appeared on his face, stretching his scars, then he irrupted into a fit of giggles, he held his sides. Once he calmed down he wiped a fake tear off his cheek and rubbed the greasepaint off his finger onto his trousers, the Joker looked around his 'borrowed' apartment, his smile dropped, almost everything was covered in dust (but it's not like there is much anyway); the small table and chair in the corner of the room, the T.V the Joker knocked over and even the mattress on the floor. The place did have a very small kitchen but the Joker already ransacked it for food, even if it was out of date, so he didn't go in it again.

The Joker looked out of the window and up at the setting sun, "Hmmm… by my calculations I think it'ssss… around six… maybe tonight will remind Gotham how I do thi-" Sirens. 'No, they couldn't of found me already, I just got out… _I'm not going back!_'

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><p>Down below the Joker's apartment, two police officers look around the street and the ally ways, "Another fake call, no ones here." One of the officers says; he was tall with dark hair and sunglasses covering his eyes.<p>

"We should go back and tell the Commissioner. Weird, the boy who called sounded really scared; he gave this address and everything, even saying he would be here." The second said. He was younger than the first; short with blond hair and blue eyes.

"Yeah, probably a prank call. Kids these days, think they can get away with things like this."

Both officers started walking back to the car and opened the doors,

"WAIT!"

The officers quickly looked to see a boy, maybe the age of seven, running towards them.

"Are you ok?" The blond officer asked, kneeling down to the boy's level. Looking at his feet, he gave a little nod. "Are you the one who phoned the police?" Again the boy nodded.

"Well, what was it for?" The older officer said, his voice slightly raised.

The young boy flinched and the blond gave his partner a glare, "What's your name, son?"

"Tom, sir." He whispered.

"Ok Tom, can you tell me what's wrong?"

Tom mumbled something under his breath.

"Can you repeat that?" The oldest asked with a softer voice. Tom looked up at him with fear written all over his face.

"I heard the Joker…"

Both the blond and the brunette looked shocked, "W-what?" Hoping they both mis-heard the boy due to his small voice.

"The Joker…I heard him laughing," Tom said a little louder, while a shake rattled his body, he rapped his arms around himself as if it would make the horrid laughter go away.

"Where did it come from?" The oldest said as his partner was frozen with shock.

"Up there." Tom looked and pointed up to a top floor window of a building to the left of him. His face paled and a sharp gasp escaped from his mouth. Both officers followed his finger and a look of pure astonishment and horror plastered itself onto there faces.

"We found the Joker! We need back up!" The brunette almost shouted into the radio on his bullet-proof vest while the other turned back to the boy only to find out he was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer : No Batman characters are mine.**

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><p>Later that night, Bruce found himself down in his make-shift Batcave staring at the dark suit as he tries to convince himself whether or not to risk his life and go out as the Batman. He sighed and walked towards it, his fingers tracing the out line of the bat symbol on the chest. Nodding, he lifted the suit off of the stand it was on and began to change from Bruce Wayne, Billionaire play-boy to the Batman, crime fighting vigilante.<p>

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><p>Back at the penthouse, Alfred had just cleaned the dishes and put them back in there rightful places then washed the counters down, he took a step back to look at his work, pleased, Alfred picked up a pile of clean clothes and walked to Bruce's bedroom. He knocked on the door, after a while he thought, 'He must be sleeping,' he pushed the door quietly open, the light from the hallway beams through and light up Bruce's bed, or more specifically, empty bed.<p>

"Bruce…?" he called but he got no answer. He quickly put down the pile of clothes and rushed as fast as he could to the key holder by the front door only to fine one of the car keys missing.

"Oh Bruce… Why?" He whispered. Worry and disappointment laced his voice.

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><p>The Joker ran and he didn't stop. When the two police officers first spotted him, surprisingly the first thing on his mind was not to kill them; it was to get away from them. He was not going back to Arkham. More sirens followed him through the streets of the Narrows, 'I need to lose them.' He looked behind him, the police cars just out of sight as Joker made a last minuet decision and turned towards another street that leads up to central Gotham, 'Woops, that wasn't a good idea.' Joker didn't even acknowledge where he was going any more, he just let his legs do the running and his brain telling them what they need to dodge, like for example; on coming traffic or the odd pedestrian, which really isn't that much of a problem since it was late. He turned into an ally way next to a big, and awfully familiar, building. Panting heavily, he leans up against the hard brick wall. Then it hit him, it was very quiet, aside from his breathing and maybe one or two cars passing on another road. No sirens. He closed his eyes and a few giggles passed through his lips while he was still trying to catch his breath, 'Ha! Stupid idiots thought they could catch me!'<p>

Suddenly, a powerful force hit him in the face and threw him off his feet onto the dirty ground.

"Arrgh… ouch." The Joker moaned and brought his hand up to hold his nose, which was now gushing out blood, and opened his eyes. He saw darkness move towards him and grab him by the collar to pull him up and push him harshly back up against the wall.

The Joker let out a small laugh, "Batsss… What a surprise to see you here."

"Did you do it?" The Batman growled in his low, animalistic voice.

"Do what? … Oh, you mean the murders. Oh no, no. Not me, never." He chucked, "I should ask you the same, uh, question." He laughed before Batman could give an answer.

Batman inwardly flinched at his ghastly laugh; he slammed Joker against the wall again to stop it.

"Ow… could you stop that and let go of me?"

Batman just stared at him; the anger was so intense that the Joker could feel it, he still said nothing, Batman simply tightened his grip on the Jokers collar, the clown winced breathing becoming a difficulty.

"Please?" Joker coughed out mockingly.

Reluctantly let go of the Joker's collar and stepped back, Joker frowned as he looked down at his collar, specked with blood, and neatened it. Batman watched his every move, looking for anything that might indicate an escape attempt. The Joker freezes, 'Oh no. Not again.'

"Joker?"

"Sirens… They're coming this way…" He muttered.

"Joke-"

"Gotta go… Gotta get away."

"JOKER!" He shouts, sounding very annoyed and slightly disturbed with what he just saw.

The Joker snaps out of whatever trance he was in and looks up at the Batman, "What? No need to shout."

"Be quiet… Can you hear that?"

The Joker looked confused, "Uh, yeah, it's called police cars getting closer with bright flashy lights and loud _sirens._"

The Batman moved closer to the wall the Joker was leaning on, "No, not that…"

The Joker pressed his ear against the wall, straining to hear what the Bat was hearing. There. A small _tick, tick, tick, _could be heared faintly.

"Run!" The Batman shouted and he grabbed the Joker by the sleeve and pulled him out of the ally way.

For once, the Joker was shocked. He was being pulled away from a ticking building by a man dressed as a bat... Crazy world. He never thought he would be saved by anyone, let alone the Bat. He was running, all of a sudden his vision went black, all he could hear was a terrible ringing and his head hurt like hell. His eyesight blurred and tried to re-focus, all he could see was dust, pieces of brick, and smoke and fire everywhere he looked also from what angle he was seeing things, he guessed he was on the laying floor. He looked down and saw a big puddle of red liquid by his fingers while he tried to push himself up, he groaned and fell back down to the floor because of his weakened arms and of the dull sting that shot through one of his arms. The ringing was still there but it was clearing and it sounded very familiar however when he tried to make sense of it, the noise stopped.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Characters are not mine. They belong to DC except Detective Harlow and the Clowns... Those are mine :D

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><p>The Joker closed his eyes again, feeling too weak to keep them open; he was slowly drifting off, the crackling of the fire quietened and the taste of ash, smoke and blood slowly went away.<p>

The clown didn't know how long he was out for but he was awoken by being turned on his back.

"Joker…" The voice was rough but it seemed far away. He wanted to answer, he really did, but he didn't even have the strength to open his mouth let alone make a noise. He felt two gloved fingers press against the side his neck, he felt his own weak pulse against them, they stayed there for a few moments then they were removed.

"Joker… Come on, wake up! Open your eyes…" The low growl seemed closer now and the Joker focused on opening his eyes. Slowly his eyes opened, his sight was blurry again but this time it cleared up much quicker. A big, black, blob came into view, he blinked and the picture became sharper.

"Bat…" He groaned his voice just above a whisper, his head pounding from the light burning his eyes.

"Keep still, you may have concussion." The Batman ordered, the vigilante looked at the burning wreck that was a building, "Who did tha-?"

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><p>"...That?" A far off officer questioned.<p>

"I dunno but it's lucky none of us got hurt" He pulled his glasses off his nose and pocketed them. "Search the area!" he shouted to the officers behind him. "Call the fire department." His partner saluted him and took his phone out and walked away from the blazing building. He took his own phone out. "Commissioner… We have a problem… No, someone blew up a building…" –sigh- "City Hall." His eyes raked over the once magnificent building, now in pieces here and there. "Yes, sir." He put his phone away; a thoughtful look crossed his face then anger.

"You! Come here." He called to a police man nearby.

"Yes sir?"

"Do you know if any one was in the building at the time?"

"Umm, I'm not sure sir. Sorry. Gee, I hope no one was in there, but you know, we could be lucky… this time of night…"

"Yes of course." He sighed once more. He looked back at the building.

"Umm, sir? Who do you think done it…?" The young officer's voice trembled just a bit.

"Who has been on the News for weeks since the 'mysterious' murders?" He asked, his voice turning colder.

"Uh, the Batman and Joke-"

"The Batman and Joker" He hissed.

More sirens appeared in the distance and the two officers turned around. Both fire engines and police cars were speeding towards them. Once they stopped, the fire fighters got to work on trying to put out the flames, and the Commissioner stepped out of one of the many cars that showed up and walked headed for where the two police officers were.

"Commissioner Gordon," He held out his hand.

"Detective Harlow" Gordon took his hand and shook.

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><p>"Damn!" The Batman muttered.<p>

"What's going on?" The Joker started, his voice shaking. He began to push himself up to try and see what the Batman was seeing, however a sharp pain in his arm brought a shout from his mouth.

"Shhh, we got to get out of here. Quickly or we're going to ge-"

"Oh my god! Look! It's the Batman." A female voice gasped. Commissioner Gordon and Detective Harlow looked over to where they were.

"He's with the Joker!" Another voice shouted, male this time.

"I knew it… Their working _together_!" Harlow growled and he glanced over to Gordon, "I told you!" Harlow turned to the unit of officers, "Don't just stand there, get your guns and shoot!"

Gordon just stood there, frozen with shock.

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><p>Joker desperately tried to get up, but the instant he moved his head upwards his world spun and he felt nauseous, he let his head fall beck to the floor. The impact from the concrete created shockwaves of pain, his eyes closed again. The spinning becoming unbearable. Voices were everywhere, but Joker couldn't understand a thing, he felt faint again. Almost everything went quiet; the last thing he heard was a low, "Hold on…" Barely audible bangs and a rush of wind around him, then silence.<p>

Batman had to think quickly. His mind was racing, what should he do?

He looked down at the Jokers body, blood surrounded his head and when he tried to use his left arm, he shouted in pain, which may indicate a break or fracture. The vigilante quickly but gently picked up the Joker. You see, it's sort of a hero complex; Batman was created to help people and at this moment, as unbelievable as it sounds, the Joker needs his help. He got his grapple gun out from his utility belt and aimed it at the roof of the nearest building, he heard the police behind him, car doors being opened and shut, and then small clicks that what he guessed as guns. For the first time of being Batman he lost focus and slipped into his mind, still thinking about what he was doing, where he was going to go and how he got into this mess.

"… Aim! …"

Batman snapped back into focus, arm still in position, he ducked his head down towards the Joker and said quietly, "Hold on…"

"… Fire!"

A flurry of bullets rushed past him, he fired his grapple and, once it was hooked onto the roof, he was pulled in the air barley missing the bullets passing him. Batman jumped onto the rooftop and started running, being careful not to drop the Joker, leaping over the gaps from roof to roof.

He was sure the police got into their cars to pursue him but they seemed to have lost him as the surrounding area was as quiet as a cemetery, it had the same eerie feeling as well, like he was being watched… But there couldn't be, all that was up here was him and the Joker, and the only place to hide was behind the small room that concealed stairs leading to a lower floor.

A small crackling sound made the Batman almost visibly freeze up, unsure of what it was he placed the Joker on the ground, lent up against the wall, and went behind the room, just incase.

"… _Boss… Boss? Are ya there?"_

The Joker slowly wakes up again, 'Argh, I gotta stop doing that…Wait, how did I get here?' He looks at his surroundings, his brain struggling to work out where he is, and then it clicks, 'A rooftop?' He thought some more, a wicked grin spread on his face, 'Bat! Hmm, saved by the Bat twice on one day, I gotta write this down so I don't forget!' His eyes brows knotted together, where was the Bat? Would he really just leave him up here?

"_Boss! Can ya hear me?"_

He looked down at his purple jacket, slowly, with his good hand; he reached in to one of his many pockets and grabbed the walkie-talkie he had. Joker brought it up to his mouth, "Loud and clea-" He stopped, choking down a cough and closing his eyes, his stomach twisted.

"_Umm…Boss? Are ya ok?"_

"Urgh, yeah I'm fine, just tell me where the new hideout is,"

"_Oh right, it's at the old-"_

"Not so loud, you idiot," he growled. Slowly opening his eyes, his sight spinning a little again, 'What's going on? I feel horrible.'

"_Sorry Boss."_ Joker rolled his eyes. Not caring about the pain in his arm, he brought his hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose, but quickly pulled it back as a new found pain seared through his nose, 'Oh yeah… stupid Bat. Punching me in the face, I didn't even do anything!'

"_We're at the old factory near Gotham Bay"_ The hench-clown said quietly.

Joker thought for a moment. He could easily get there if he was not feeling like he would throw up every five seconds, and he defiantly could not ask the Bat took take him, even if he did come back, asking the Bat would be a one way ticket back to Arkham. That is another reason he should go now, _Arkham_. He visibly shook, 'I'm not going _back! _No one can make me!' A whoosh of air and the rustling of fabric brought the Joker back to the present. 'Heh, it's now or never.' He put the Walkie-talkie back in its place then the Joker jumped to his feet, ignoring the horrid feeling in his head and stomach, he took a deep breath as quietly as he could, put his hand in a different pocket and pulled out a card and a pen. Quickly, he scribbled something on the card and dropped it letting it float to the floor, he pocketed the pen, dashed to the edge of the roof and jumped over the gap separating him from the other building and to his freedom.

Batman landed gracefully back on the roof after searching the area, nothing was found. He walked back to where he left to Joker, only to find him missing and in his place a card face down on the floor. He picked it up while turning it around, it was a Joker card, 'Of course, what else would it be.' In spiky and very untidy writing, one word was written on the card.

_Thanks_.

He put the card in one of the compartments in his utility belt and turned to return to his penthouse.


	4. Chapter 4

**Only the clowns are mine ... All MINE!**

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><p>The clown hench-men were gathered in a large room. It was mostly empty beside from a few broken and rusted machines. The only light was given off by the old flickering lights on the high ceiling.<p>

"The Boss didn't sound good, did he?" One clown said, slowly taking his mask off. A few grunts sounded around the group who all sat near the table.

"He'll be fine; he probably had a run in with the Bat." Said another, his voice rough and deep, also taking of his mask and taking a deep breath through his nose. He had a long scar running from the lobe of his ear along his throat and disappearing under his shirt.

At that moment the factory doors opened. The Joker used the door to hide his inability to stand properly by leaning on it with his left side careful not to crush his arm too much.

"Ah, boys this place is perfect! Yesss, who would look in a dirty, old factory near an abandoned beach?" The Jokers voice was not as strong as he wanted it to be.

The hench-clowns looked at one another, concerned if their boss was being sarcastic and worried as he did not sound or look very good; the bottom half of his face was covered in blood, so much so that the Jokers' smile was almost invisible. Plus there was a patch of crimson in his hair.

Unknown to them, the Joker was just covering up his pain and hoping his clowns would not ask any questions.

"You!" He pointed to the scarred clown. He immediately stood up. "Get me some bandages and stitching equipment."

"Uh, yes boss." He grabbed his mask and ran past the Joker, looking back at him for a second; he frowned then slipped on his mask and continued running.

The rest of the clown's kept their heads down.

"Come on boy's! Make yourselves at home. Take of those masks." When no-one moved he pushed himself slightly of the door and walked towards the group of thugs. He stood in front of a hench-man with a mask including blue around the eyes and a nice red smile. The Joker looked at the mask, smiled himself, then harshly ripped it of the man's face and threw the mask on the table. The man let out a small sound that was very similar to a mouse, the Joker giggled then turned to face his other clown's. "Now!" Everyone jumped, including the few that already had their masks off, while the rest hurried to get theirs off.

"There… Isn'_t_ tha_t_ be_tt_er?" Small mumbles answered him. 'Ha! It's great how they are all big and powerful when their out but when their in here, with me, they turn into big _babies_! Ha-Ha!' Suddenly a wave of dizziness washed over him, 'Argh, I need to sit down.' He turned back around to the hench-man he ripped the mask of, now white as a ghost. He giggled again at the poor man's reaction to him, then grabbed his collar with his good hand and pulled him off the chair then roughly to the floor.

"Sorry Squeaky, but I need the chair."

The hench-men laughed at the display in front of them. 'Squeaky' quickly stood up, looking down at his feet nervously. The Joker span around a couple times on one foot, stopped, facing his 'audience' and gave them a bow then fell back into his seat.

'That was a _very _bad idea.' The Joker immediately regretted spinning, though he had stopped, everything else was. Blinking it away, he lifted his feet onto the table. "So boys, what have you been up to while I was… 'Away'?" While the men were nervously talking, the Joker was concentrating on keeping conscious, as it was becoming increasingly tricky until he felt a hand touch his shoulder gently, _very_ gently. He looked up; turning his head to look behind him, the clown that he'd sent out was back and was holding the equipment he asked for.

As soon the Joker looked at the hench-clown, he immediately removed his hand from his shoulder.

"I got the stuff you wanted boss." He said, handing it to the Joker.

"Oh good, that was fast. Uh, thanks Bulldog!" The Joker said. He stood up and grabbed the items then looked at them like he was examining them.

"Bulldog? Uh that's not-" He stopped his sentence when the Joker looked up at him, and he did not look happy. "Um well, I got this for you as well boss. You looked like you, um, needed it." He held out a bottle of water. The Joker looked at it then at the clown, then back at the bottled water.

A smile appeared on his face, "Aw, for little ol' me? You shouldn't have." He grabbed the bottle and turned, walking towards a door at the other side of the room, "If anyone needs me, I will be in here," he pointed very childishly towards the door, "for your own health, don't need me." He growled; all of a sudden the childishness vanished like it was never there. He opened the door and walked in; using the door handle for support, then he slammed it shut, leaving the hench-men looking at each other, confusion covered their faces.

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><p>Batman climbed over his balcony rail and silently moved towards the glass door, just as he opened it a light flickered on down the hall. 'Alfred.' Batman thought, he slid past the glass barrier and shut it again.<p>

"Sir?"

"Alfred, sorry." Batman said without is usual growl. He pulled off his cowl and raked his hand threw his dark hair.

"Sorry?" Alfred said, of course he knew what Bruce was sorry about but if he wanted to apologise, he can.

"I went out as Batman, even when I said I wouldn't. And I didn't tell you," Bruce sighed, "It's late, you should get back to bed… Sorry I woke you."

The butler nodded, briefly taking note of his second apology. "Actually sir, this is the earliest you have come back. Did something happen?" Alfred asked, with a knowing gleam in his eye.

"I-I think, I don't know … I'll tell you tomorrow Alfred." Bruce moved towards the hallway.

"Of course sir." Alfred said and followed Bruce down the hall to his own room.

Bruce quietly shut the door behind him; his eyes were drawn to his alarm clock that was placed on his bedside table, '2:30? I am early.' He sat down on the edge of his bed, replaying the night in his head.

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><p>The Joker sat on the floor with his legs crossed and, as carefully as he could, placed the bone in his lower arm back in its rightful place, sure it hurt but he was used to it seeing that he's done it before. He grabbed the bandage and wrapped it around the break. When finished, he threw the roll of bandage across the room and watched it unravel through the air. His head pounded, like something was trying to get out, the pain just wouldn't stop and the dizziness began again, he used his good arm to try and grab the bottled water, when he finally found it, he immediately opened it and downed half the bottle. The Joker hoped the water would help but it didn't. The feel of it slithering down his throat with the taste of ash and death mixed in made him throw it back up. He coughed and spluttered uncontrollably and his head continued to throb painfully, everything was spinning. Joker shut his eyes, in the darkness the he could have sworn he heard someone breathing so he tried to open his eyes again, despite the spinning, but found he couldn't. Panic clutched at his chest and wouldn't let go. The breathing got louder, closer and closer until he was sure the… thing was right in front of him but he didn't feel any of the puffs of breath. All of a sudden, two blood red eyes appeared, complete with thin, snake-like pupils. Joker gasped and tried to move back but he hit the wall behind him, the beast gave a demonic chuckle then smiled at him with rows of pointed teeth. The monster rushed forward and the pain worsened tenfold, it felt like it was ripping him apart from the inside out.<p>

The Joker lost control of his body and felt limp. Still with his eyes closed, from the pain and shock, he fell unconscious.


	5. Chapter 5

**... Clowns, nothing more. Only them...**

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><p>"Boss? Boss, are ya in there?" One of the clowns banged his fist on the door.<p>

"Are you crazy? Didn't you hear what the Joker said yesterday?" A younger hench-clown said.

"Listen kid, that was yesterday and he obviously was in a bad mood then-"

The young clown cut in, "And how does that make knocking on his door now a good idea?" He crossed his arms.

"Well if ya let me finish what I was going to say maybe you'd find out, Pipsqueak." Chuckles laughed, a few of the others did too.

Pipsqueak huffed and sat down by the table. "My name's rubbish…"

They laughed again, one clown, Smiley, patted him on the shoulder. "Yeah, but at least you're not alone," he turned to man that the Joker frightened the day before, "right 'Squeaky'?"

Squeaky grumbled and turned to the small, portable T.V that was placed on the table. JoJo, who was also watching the T.V, flicked though the channels however most of them were static.

"Hey, does anyone know where Bulldog is? I haven't seen him since yesterday." Smiley asked.

"Me neither, maybe the thought of the Joker talking to him about yesterdays act of kindness scared him off." Chuckles laughed a bit.

"All he did was get him water." Pipsqueak looked confused and looked up at Chuckles.

"Yeah, but the Joker is… Uh…" Chuckles trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

It is like he is unable to grasp the context of 'kindness'. Usually someone ends up dead. He thinks they might be getting too comfortable working for him, you know, not scared or something." Smiley explained.

An awkward silence filled the air and Pipsqueak and Squeaky shifted uncomfortably.

Pipsqueak spoke up again. "So why would the Joker be in a better mood today?"

"You don't know much do ya? He has crazy mood swings, one minute he's all happy and smilin' the next he's… Well, ya know…" Chuckles trailed off, thinking about former members of the Jokers group that were now 'missing'.

"Oh… Well that still doesn't mean that he is in a good mood now."

Chuckles shrugged, "I was just checkin'. He didn't look good yesterday."

"He might not even be in there…" Squeaky muttered, the group of clowns looked over at him, save for JoJo who was still looking for a channel on the T.V.

"Let's hope not… He might be fuming at the banging on his door." Pipsqueak looked over at Chuckles, smirking.

"Don't start that again, kid, or I'll -"

"Shut up!" JoJo raised his voice. It was a rare opportunity to hear JoJo talk, nobody knows why he doesn't, but usually when he did it was for a good reason, that's why everyone listens to him when he spoke, even the Joker. All eyes were on him however he was focused on the T.V that was no longer static, they all crammed around it. It showed a poor quality picture of a News channel, a brown haired lady was speaking but the sound was low and hardly capable of being heard. There was a heading on screen about that subject of news which read: 'Batman; Can We Trust Him?'

"Hey, turn it up." Smiley called out from the back. JoJo reached over to the side of the T.V and the volume increased.

"_Late last night, City Hall was destroyed, there is yet to be information on how it happened, however, reports from several officers on site state that the Joker and Batman was at the location. The body count of dea-"_

"So that's where the Joker was yesterday…" Squeaky muttered.

"Hey," Pipsqueak called and then the attention was on him, he smirked, obviously enjoying it, "Soo, who do you think blew it up because it was clearly not the Joker or Batman."

"Oh and why couldn't it be the Joker?" Chuckles put in.

"Because he didn't have any help with the explosives and he only just got out of Arkham."

"Good point…"

Smiley looked thoughtful, "There really isn't anyone else who coulda done it, well, anyone we know. It isn't Crane's style and I think he's still in Arkham."

"So, there's a new crazy? He better watch out." Pipsqueak laughed.

JoJo looked towards the group, "What if it's a girl?"

Pipsqueak laughed louder, almost uncontrollably and he clutched his ribs.

"No, JoJo's got a point; girls can get crazy over anything. Imagine this: she's out one day, when suddenly she sees an friend that she likes, ya know _really_ likes, so she starts to walk up to him, all of a sudden another girl attaches herself to his arm, all giggly and stuff. So obviously, being a girl, she's all jealous and storms off but she's so angry and wants to relive some of her anger so goes and blows up City Hall. You never really know with a girl." Chuckles sniggered.

"Nice story but seriously, this new guy or girl has got to be some kind of genius to get explosives into City Hall without being caught." Smiley said.

The volume of the T.V went up again and stopped anyone from talking; JoJo pulled his hand away from the telly and crossed his arms, looking at the screen.

"_We are now live, outside the GCPD, waiting for any information about the disaster that happened last night…" The blonde woman started walking up towards the front doors of the GCPD. A brown haired man pushed open the doors and greeted the news reporter. "Oh, Detective Harlow, you say you were at the scene of the crime, tell us; what actually happened there." The reporter practically shoved the microphone in his face. _

"_Well, as we got down to what was left of City Hall, met up with Commissioner Gordon to assess the damage but some of our team saw the impossible and alerted us but unfortunately it also alerted them…"_

"_Them? You mean the Batman and Joker, right?"_

"_Yes I do, from what I could see; the Joker got injured from the blast while he, with the Batman, tried to run from it."_

"_But obviously he didn't, right?"_

"_Correct," He continued, "While the Batman got to a safe distance, the Joker did not. Instead of running, he seemed to go back and check the Joker. We were going to stop them but the Batman got up along with the clown and escaped onto the rooftops."_

"_Wow, crazy story, sounds like the Batman and Joker have, like, teamed up… " The news reporter looked thoughtful._

"_My thoughts exactly." Harlow smirked._

All the clowns stood around the small T.V with wide eyes and open mouths. JoJo was the first to regain his bearings and silently switched off the T.V.

"Uh…" Pipsqueak said, still shocked from the unexpected information. "Did that just happen?"

"I'm not even sure… So the Joker wasn't fighting the Bat… He was helping him?" Smiley looked worried, "Does that mean we work for the Bat now?"

"Of course not you idiot, it said the Joker got caught in the blast, the Bat went and helped _him_. We do _not_ work for the Bat." Chuckles growled.

Pipsqueak looked very happy suddenly, "Maybe the Joker finally got to the Bats' head." A few clowns laughed at the idea.

"I wonder what the Bat's doing now; I mean it must be horrible just thinking about saving your arch-enemy." Squeaky spoke up, looking back at the group of clowns from his chair.

"Heh, now that's funny." Chuckles sniggered, "But I don't think that would be enough for the Joker, we all know he wants the Bat to kill someone."

"Yeah, like that's ever going to happ-"

A loud crash interrupted Pipsqueak's sentence. All clowns looked towards the source of the crash; the Jokers' room. Chuckles walked slowly towards the room.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Chuckles…" Pipsqueak whispered in fear of being heard by the Joker.

"I agree with Pipsqueak, something's not right…" JoJo was now standing nearer the exit with his clown mask in his hand, he was also whispering. This unnerved the group of clowns; JoJo was hardily scared, even when he was extremely close to being caught by the Bat, he just kept calm and carried on but now he was slowly backing away from the door, still staring at it as if his life depended on it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Clo- wait... nope, i own no one in this chapter. :D**

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><p>Bruce found himself staring up at the ceiling, lying down with his back on the bed, still suited up in the hard Kevlar. Dark circles around his eyes but they were not form lack of sleep, they were form the paint Bruce put on as Batman. Suddenly, light beamed through the window and the bright light shined in his eyes, Bruce groaned and turned his head away from the intruding light.<p>

"Good morning Master Bruce, sleep well?" Alfred said as he walked away from the curtain.

"Surprisingly, yes. Slept more than I thought I would, being covered in Kevlar." Bruce mumbled with a small grin, placing his arm over his eyes, blocking out the light.

Alfred chucked, "Glad to hear that, sir… Did you not have time to change?" Alfred asked, gesturing to the Batsuit.

Bruce sighed before answering, "I was thinking…"

Alfred nodded, "Are you having breakfast today or did I make it for nothing?"

Bruce removed his arm to look at Alfred, expecting a tray of food but his hands were empty. He gave his butler a questioning look.

"It's in the dining room, sir."

Bruce just covered his eyes again. Alfred sighed and went across the room to pick out clothes for Bruce. The silence stretched for a few minutes, only the rustle of clothes being moved could be heared. Alfred decided to break the silence.

"I have seen the news, sir." He said, now putting a neatly folded suit on the end of the bed.

"Huh?" Bruce removed his arm once again to look at him with a confused look.

"The Batman and the Joker were mentioned."

Realization hit Bruce like a punch to the face, and he scrambled to sit up. "It's on the news? Already?"

His oldest friend had a blank look but worry was very much noticeable in his eyes.

"Alfred, I couldn't just leave him there…"

Alfred held up his hand, Bruce took the sign and stopped talking, "I only hope you know what you are doing," and with that, he walked to the door, "Oh, and you have a meeting today at noon," Alfred glanced at his watch he pulled out of his pocket, "you better hurry and get ready and also don't forget breakfast again." And with that he disappeared down the hall.

After Bruce finally got out of bed and changed, he trudged down the hall towards the living room. He spotted his cooked breakfast on the table but walked straight past it to the T.V and turned it on; Bruce sat himself on a black, leather chair, hunched forward with his elbows on his knees and fingers on lips.

Alfred frowned at his disregard for food and walked to stand behind him, "Not hungry, Master Bruce?"

"What did it say, Alfred?" Bruce said, once again ignoring the topic of food. He picked up the remote and started flicking through the news channels.

"If I do say so, sir, but I think that food is more important than what the news has to say about Batman and Joker."

Bruce didn't answer back; he just continued to look at the screen.

Sighing, Alfred picked up the plate of Bruce's neglected food and started to dispose of it, readying the plate to be washed and dried to be used again in another attempt to get Bruce to it a full meal.

'Master Bruce isn't going to like what he hears.' Alfred thought sadly, he turned, only to see an empty seat and the T.V still on. The picture of news reporter and detective could be seen. Alfred sighed again.

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><p>Bruce was in disbelief, how could they think that? Are they really that ignorant? Is this how the people of Gotham really pictured Batman? Bruce slammed the door to his other Lamborghini and gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.<p>

'Calm it Bruce, you do this to help them, not for _you_.' He thought to himself. He took a deep breath then turned the key to start the ignition. Then began his long journey to work, well maybe around twenty minutes but when you can see the city from the streets, see the city how it really is, reality hits you bad and Bruce can't help but think through the whole drive, about how maybe these people don't deserved to be saved.

A woman sat in a dank alleyway caught the billionaires' eye. She was lent up against the brick wall and, from what Bruce could see, thin, shimmering streaks fell over her high cheek bones. She turned her head slightly towards the traffic, and a dark blue/black bruise swelled over her left eye. More tears fell as she held her face in her hands; her body shook with silent sobs. Bruce sighed and leaned back into the smooth, black leather seats.

'Yes they do Bruce…'

Twenty minutes later he arrived at Wayne Enterprises, heading for the lift he pressed the 'Up' button and waited.

"Mr. Wayne, you look well rested." A polite voice called form behind him.

Bruce turned, a smile light up on his face, "Lucius, yes, thank you." He shook Fox's hand. The lift made a soft _ding_ noise and the doors opened. They both walked in. Lucius pushed the button to the highest room.

"Will you be awake all the meeting, Mr. Wayne?" Lucius smiled at his employer.

"Hopefully, I heard this was important. Can't miss it can I?"

"No, of coarse not…" Lucius paused for a moment, thinking, before a talking again, "Have you seen the News?"

Bruce was shocked, although at the question but on the fact that he was stuck on how to answer it, he was sure Lucius saw the struggle. Before Bruce could redeem himself, the lift doors opened to show another pair of doors that lead to the discussion room filled with men and women dressed formally, waiting for their arrival. Lucius walked out of the elevator to begin the meeting. Bruce followed his lead and walked out of the lift but before entering the room he straightened up and patted down his suit, he breathed deep and slow, clearing his mind then finally entered the room, in full Bruce Wayne mode.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello everyone, sorry about the long wait. At this time I should probably say that the updates will be (and have been, sorry) really, really, really irregular, but anyway this chapter might be a bit... Bloody, at the end, just thought I should warn you, just incase. Saying that, I enjoyed writing this chapter loads XD**

**Disclaimer: No characters belong to me.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>As soon as the meeting finished, Bruce walked out of the room and took a deep breath, he had forgotten how boring meetings were considering he was asleep for most of them but likely Lucius was there and did most of the talking.<p>

Bruce thought about going back to the penthouse but the idea of actually going through his paperwork struck him, so he made his way to his hardly used office, sat down at his desk and looked through a pile of papers.

After a few minuets of flicking through paper, he felt the familiar feeling that he was being watched… Just like the night before. Slowly, he lifted his head up but was only met with the emptiness of his office; Bruce stood up and peered out the window, looking left and right at the ledge of the building and the street below before straightening up and rubbing his forehead. He felt a headache coming on and he'd only been here, what, twenty minuets? He glanced at the clock on the wall above his desk, four o'clock; Ok two hours. The pile of papers (all completed) was stacked up neatly in the middle of his desk, nothing else needed to be done; he didn't need anything else from Fox, going home seemed like a good idea then he could get something for his growing headache.

The traffic on the way to the penthouse was a nightmare, ten minuets and nothing has moved, Bruce let his head fall on the steering wheel with a low thud, 'Should have stayed at work.'

As the long lines of cars started moving, the billionaire noticed blue lights flashing in the distance, catching his interest; he sat up straighter in his seat so he could get a better view. All he saw was the top half of an ambulance; he slumped back down again, nothing new. When the line moved forward, Bruce leaned his head to the side to see if he could catch a glimpse, usually he would all ready know what happened and what injuries there are because he caused them. It was nothing out of the ordinary, some paramedics, police, investigators, he caught sight of Commissioner Gordon, and Bruce frowned sympathetically, heavy looking eyes complete with dark circles and an exhausted look plastered on his face. Moving forward a little more, something caught Bruce's eye, something colourful. In one of the investigators gloved hand was a clown mask; it was covered in blood and was cracked down one of the masks cut out eye. Thoughts flew through Bruce's head but two stuck out the most: 'Did the Joker do it?' And 'was it the Joker and his group the ones who got attacked'? He shook his head, feeling the headache getting worse, he sighed, it was going to be a long ride home.

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><p>After an hour of being in one of the longest traffic jams Bruce has ever been in, he finally got back to the penthouse.<p>

Alfred greeted him as normal, Bruce only nodded and sat down on the leather he had in the morning. He didn't look up from his lap until a glass of water was handed to him along with a tablet; Alfred looked at him with a small smile, "For the headache, sir."

Bruce felt a tug at his lips; of course Alfred knew when he needed something.

He put the pill in his mouth then swallowed it down with a gulp of water, praying it would work quicker. His mind wondered back to what he saw back in the traffic jam, surely the Joker has more hench-men, if so; he would have to go pay them a visit.

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><p>As soon as the sun disappeared behind the city's towering buildings, Batman began his search for the remaining few in the Joker's group. While jumping from roof top to roof top, he spots dark patches on the floor of the alleyway below. Swiftly, he jumped down to investigate. Blood, dried, maybe for a couple of hours, Batman grimaced, at that time he was probably at work, still in the meeting. There was a trial of the same dark crimson blood that lead further down the alley and Batman followed without a second thought, trashcans were knocked over and scattered around, blood was sprayed against the grimy walls, a definite sign of a struggle. The further Batman walked, the more blood there was and the more he was dreading what he was going to see. A horrid smell emerged from the darkness and it made Batman's stomach churn but still he continued onward… Until he saw it.<p>

Hanging off the fire exit stairs was a disgusting, mangled, rotting corpse; even the flies had started nesting on it. At a first glance it would seem that the body was hung up by rope but the vile truth was it was the poor guy's intestines, pulled right out of his now slashed open and bloody stomach and wrapped around his neck. Blood streamed down the man's head, finding their way to the empty eye sockets and jawless mouth. Batman cringed; from where he was standing it looked like it was literally ripped off. Moving downward, he could see that chest area was torn open and the ribcage smashed to pieces, a lot of the organs were missing and the spine was pulled out of his back and thrown to the floor, where Batman can now see it at the back of the dead-end alleyway. On a closer inspection, he saw something that disturbed him greatly, there were… Bite marks and chunks of flesh missing everywhere. Batman turned to look away as he could bear to see any more but the picture was mentally burned in his mind now. Out of the corner of his eye his something white being concealed behind a bin, he went over to check what it was, it was a mask, a clown mask, and it stared back at him with cold empty eyes just as his owner.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! Look another chapter for you already XD I don't know what's wrong with me, I don't usually write this much :/ Must be a new illness... well better than writer block I guess. Oh and the Joker's back people! Yaay! I've missed writing him.**

**Anyway - Disclaimer: No characters belong to me. **

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Walking out of the alleyway, he memorised where he was and filed the information away for later.<p>

Hours later and Batman still hadn't found the clowns; he had searched high and low but to no prevail, well it was a large city. He decided to head towards the Commissioner's house to see if he could save him the trouble of doing it later. As he got closer, Batman saw a silhouette of a person standing on the porch. He planted himself on a railing just a little above it, "Gordon."

The Commissioner flinched at the disembodied voice, nearly dropping his cup of coffee; he looked up at where the voice came from, "Batman? What are you doing here?"

Batman glanced at the cup, "Coffee, Commissioner? A bit early for that, isn't it?" He knew he was stalling the inevitable but he just couldn't say it, Gordon looked exhausted and, well, shaken.

"Couldn't sleep and I need to be awake today. We found a… body yesterday."

Batman knew what Gordon was talking about; he just hoped it wasn't as bad as the body he found.

"I heard."

"I don't understand how anyone could do such a thing, it was horrible, left right on the middle of the street." He sighed a shook his head.

Batman sighed, "This city is full of corrupt people…" Well, here goes nothing. "I found a body too…"

Gordon snapped his head up, "What?"

Batman told him where to find the body. He just wanted to get this over and done with.

Gordon straighten up, "I'll head over there right away." He turned to enter the house, "thank you, glad to know you're still helping us." He turned his head back only to see Batman had left.

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><p>The Joker woke up with a groan, his head pounded and his body ached all over. He opened his eyes a bit, but quickly shut them again; the sunlight light was strong and burned leaving his eyes throbbing painfully. He was lying on his back and the cold stone floor was beginning to dig into him uncomfortably, he tried to move but his body screamed in agony, just wanting to rest for once however the Joker had had enough with sitting around and being unconscious all the time and he forced himself into a sitting position. He swayed a little and his head thudded, he put one hand on the floor next to him to balance himself but pulled it back again when a sharp sting shot up it, instead he brought it close to his chest while the other went to his temple, massaging it slightly. The beating in is head slowed until the pain was bearable but something felt off, like there was someone watching him, but in his own mind, he shivered when he felt the unwanted presence… Shift? Well, there was really nothing else to call it. The Joker decided to forget about it, or at least try for the moment.<p>

The Joker slowly opened his eyes once more, he didn't recognise where he was, the only thing he new was that he was down in the Narrows. He could tell by the grimy walls and the rubbish infested floors, even the bright sun couldn't make this place look any better. Not feeling up to walking yet, he just stayed sat where he was and tried to remember what had happened but all he had was another blank space to add to his collection of missing memories. He did remember fixing his arm (rather badly), he lifted his left arm to see that the bandages had been ripped open – no, clawed apart – and his skin was in shreds and still bleeding quite heavily, it was also many different shades of blue and black. Both his hands were rather bloody as well; if it was his or not he couldn't tell.

He let out a shaky breath and licked his dry lips, his eyes widened at the taste his tongue was met with. It was metallic, a taste he was familiar with, he quickly lifted up his good hand to his scars, relived to find them untouched, he let out a small chuckle but the happiness was short lived as the presence moved again with a lot more force and the Joker grunted with pain, he began to panic again, then the pain subsided.

'Oh, so I'm not allowed to be a tad bit frightened for my wellbeing. Thanks, I'll take that as a warning.'

He didn't get an answer, thankfully. The Joker didn't want to believe that there was something wrong with him; he just wanted to blame it on the lack of sleep, stress, pain, anything really. 'Yeah, that's it, I'm just tired.' That thought calmed the Joker, until he felt it move a bit and chuckle mockingly. The Joker's pulse rocketed.

He scrabbled to his feet, ignoring the dizzy feely and looks around, he can see that he was sitting right in the middle of the road and behind him he can see the bridges that connect the Narrows to the much nicer part of Gotham. There were people walking up and down the streets in that 'nicer part of Gotham' and the Joker found it quite funny that they hadn't noticed him, he just couldn't bring himself to laugh out loud, he didn't even want to kill them, he just lost the desire to do so. At that point the Joker knew there was something wrong but again he just ignored it and blamed it on the fact that he was injured and the instinct to let his body heal. Slowly, he moved back into the shadows and deeper into the poverty ridden island.

He walked around for a bit, getting used to using his legs again, and he really needed to sort out his arm but that wasn't going to happen in the Narrows. The Joker kept away from the drug addicts and alcoholics that practically littered the streets, if there were any of Falcone's men still out there, he could not afford to meet them in the state he was in and he didn't need any druggy giving them his position. Or maybe he was just paranoid.

He got bored pretty quickly, he could of went back to the factory he was staying at and ask his clowns what the hell happened but he wasn't so enthusiastic about walking all that way and he was closer to the 'nice part of Gotham' so he thought he would just wander around, listen to conversations and try to make sense of what was wrong with him. The Narrows was such a boring place. But first he needed a disguise.

He spotted an old man huddled around a bin fire, "Hey! Nice jacket, gimmie." The clown held out is hand, waiting. The homeless man hesitated but when he saw the deadly look he was getting, he quickly whipped of the old, worn material and gave it to the psycho. The Joker took it and looked at his own purple jacket, he sighed and started taking it off, "If you ruin this, you'll pay. I'll be back for it later." He says as he chucks his coat to the old man. He looked petrified.

He started to put the brown jacket, taking care of his arm, and making sure it covered his green waist coat and blue shirt.

He started walking back up to the bridges, he plucked a bandana someone was wearing off their head and wrapped it around the bottom half of his face, ignoring the rude comment, it smelled repulsive but he didn't care, so did the rest of the Narrows.

As he crossed the bridge his mind wandered back to the last thing he remembered. He was in the factory, sorting out his arm, then he recalled having a headache then… Nothing.

'Argh… Come on brain work!' He started hitting his head, but the only accomplishment that got was getting weird looks from the 'normal people' walking past. The Joker growled and kept his head down; it was a good thing almost all the green dye was washed by now, 'That reminds me, I need to get more…' He looked up to see if he was by a shop that he could steal some from, nope, but he did notice some two police officers talking to a blonde woman and then looking at him suspiciously, 'Great, just what I need.'

The Joker took a quick turn into a shop, a bouquet shop. 'And again, great. No weapons, just stupid flowers… It's my lucky day.' He thought with a frown. That soon changed when he spotted some nice, shiny scissors on the desk. He saw to two men in blue walking towards to shop, he smiled underneath his bandana. Walking up to the counter, he greeted the shop assistance.

"Good morning, sir. How can I help?" The young woman asked with a bright smile.

The door open and shut behind him, the little bell above the door alerted the Joker.

"Can I borrow those quickly?" He pointed to the scissors, his grin still hidden.

A confused look covered her face, "Um, sure."

The Joker nodded his thanks and picked up the sharp piece of metal.

"Excuse me, can we have a word with you?" One of the officers asked to the Jokers back.

"No."

"Wha-" The policeman never got to finish his sentence before a pair scissors were lodged into his throat then pulled sideways to cut right though it, blood sprayed everywhere and the Joker could hardly contain a giggle.

The lady at the counter screamed while the second officer pulled out his gun but never had a chance to use it, the Joker implanted the scissors into his eye, his eye collapsed and liquid started pouring down his cheek. The officer fell to the floor screaming, the Joker turned back to the now very pale woman, "Thanks lady." He placed the scissors back on the desk and ran out of the door. She ran in the opposite direction, looking for a phone.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey people! Here's another chapter for you, LOOK AT HOW LONG IT IS! I don't know how it got this long, I was just looking for a good stopping place. I guess I just got carried away with writing (which is extremely good) XD. I might try to write like this more, it only took like last night and 3 more hours to do. (With a lot of doing nothing before that, sorry.) So, yeah.**

**Thanks to those who reviewed, and hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Any characters you recognise don't belong to me.**

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><p>The Joker turned his head quickly to the direction the sirens where coming from. 'No, no, no, no… Not yet…' The Joker ducked his head down and pulled up the material covering his face. Pushing past the crowd, the Joker runs up the street to get away from the sirens and once again his pounding head makes it extremely difficult to concentrate. 'I need to get back into the Narrows. Urgh, stupid cops ruin everything.'<p>

"Hey, stop right there!" A voice shouted behind him.

The Joker rolled his eyes, 'Yeah, that'll work, shout at me and I'll stop.'

He stumbled, luckily he kept his balance and didn't fall over, everything was tilted sideways but he still continued onwards.

It felt like something was clawing inside his head, demanding to be let out. The presence just wouldn't stop thrashing about, the Joker could feel his eyes begin to water but of course he would be far too stubborn to let them fall.

The Joker found himself catching his breath behind some of the building of the main road, 'Damn, coming to this part of Gotham was not a good idea. It's almost as bad as the Narrows.' A small chuckle left his lips. The pain from his head eased slightly.

Shouting, further down the road, caught his attention; it wasn't the panic-y shouting of the police nearby, no, this shouting was very calm and collected, like giving orders. The Joker decided it would be more fun to explore over there than hiding from the police at his current position, so he wandered off towards the direction of the noise.

What the Joker saw made his curiosity spike to a very dangerous level, men, only four, carrying many boxes, filled with who-knows-what, into the back entrance of a building (the Joker couldn't see what building from where he was crouching).

A few minuets later they gathered around the back of a dirty, white van quietly chattering with each other. The clown slowly crept forward, wanting to here what the group of people were saying. The sound of footsteps softly hitting the ground behind him and the clatter of a bin hitting the floor instantly made the Joker look behind him, there was nothing there. His eyes darted back and forth searching for the source of the noise.

"Hey Joker!"

The Joker whipped his head back to the group who were now all looking at him, there blank expression and dull eyes sent shivers down his spine, but he did his best to not show them. He slowly began to stand up.

The only one with a normal look to them was the one who started to speak again.

He grinned, one that almost matched his, almost.

"Catch." He simply said, while throwing a phone-sized object at him; which he caught.

As soon as he grabbed the object out of the air, a small 'beep' emitted from it.

The group of people disappeared and the van sped away.

He slowly looked at the building, that was now filled with god knows how many boxes, with realisation. 'Aw, dammit.'

Quickly, he turned and ran back down form where he came from; he'd rather pick his luck with the police than another exploding building. As he got out on the street, he ran into one of the officers, they both stared at each other, the police man out of shock, the Joker because of the extremely funny and awkward moment. But a part of him just wanted to get away; of course they would just take him back to Arkham… if he just ran now he could escape…

The building exploded and everyone around them ducked and cowered in fear. Screams filled the air and people pushed and shoved at each other trying to get away from the area.

In the confusion, someone pulled the Jokers hands behind his back and handcuffed him also pulling the detonator out of his hand. He would have fought back, he would have gone ballistic and grabbed one of his various knives and stabbed them all to the ground but he didn't. Pain suddenly exploded in his head, just as the building near by did, the suddenness of it made his knees buckle, but he didn't fall as someone grabbed his arms and pulled him away.

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><p>Something like five minuets later, the Joker was forced back into reality when the powerful sound of sirens blasted their way into his head. He struggled to get up but something across his chest stopped him and his hands were stuck behind his back. The metal on his wrists moved against the sore, bruised and bloody wound, he stopped and took in his surroundings… He was in a car and the sirens were directly above him. 'No… No, nonono. I DON'T WANNA GO BACK!' His head throbbed painfully again, three times before it stopped.<p>

"Let me go…" He said quietly. Not sure if he wanted to be heard or not but with his bandana gone, he could easily be heard.

This caught the attention of the driver who looked in the rear-view mirror.

"What, really? Uh, sorry but no can do." He said disbelievingly.

The Joker sat back and tried to make himself comfy, ignoring the stupid statement he said. "Where we going?"

"Um, well we were going to take you back to Arkham-"

The Joker's eyes widened, he began thinking of ways that he could escape but then he realised that he had no knives with him, the old man had it. He frowned; going to 'Nice Gotham' was not a good idea.

"- But Detective Harlow wants to speak to you."

This made the Joker relax a little, going back to the GCPD then.

"When you say 'speak to', you mean interrogate right? Because if you do, you might want to remember what happened the last time I was 'interrogated'." He smirked. The guy visibly paled. "Didn't anyone mention not to talk to me? They should have, for your sake." His smirk turned into a full blown smile.

"S-shut up."

The Joker was laughed, oh how he love cops.

"What happened to your arm?" The officer said, just wanting to shut the damn clown up, talking was better than laughing, he hoped.

"Hm?" The Joker was too lost in his own world of laughter to even acknowledge what he said.

"Your arm, what happened to it?"

"Now that is a funny story, it all began…" The Joker started, the smile still plastered on his face, telling stories was one of his favourite things.

The policeman sighed, 'Almost there, come on endure it, your almost there.' He thought as the clown continued to tell his bogus story.

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><p>Once they made it to the police department, the Joker was once again dragged and pushed out of the car and into the building. There was many people there, none that he recognised until he reached the interrogation room, there he saw Commissioner Gordon, who he gave a smile to.<p>

He was pushed into the room, the handcuffs were removed and the door was locked behind him. The Joker rolled his eyes at the rudeness and gave a small chuckle.

'Hmm, they did a pretty good job at rebuilding this place.' He thought as he looked around, it looked almost the same before he blew it up. He took off the useless jacket and threw it on the back of the chair, which, in a few seconds later, he sat on.

He leaned on the table, and spotted a big red patch on the sleeve of his shirt. He dreaded to think of what it looked like now, so he sat up straight and pulled the ruined fabric up his arm.

The room was very well lit and he could see the mess of skin. The flesh on his arm had began healing and sticking to his once blue sleeve, he winced as he tugged the two apart. It had began bleeding a little again, blood seeping over the few blackened and scabbed areas. The rest of the wound was awfully red, well the open areas, the other part of his arm were still blue and black. All in all, it looked horrific.

He looked up as the door opened, showing the Commissioner.

"Why, hellooo Com_mission_er. Long time no see." He slowly covered him arm again, in hopes that Gordon wouldn't see, it was one weakness they didn't need to know. But of course the ever observing eyes caught a good look at it.

"You should get that checked out." He said sitting down across from the crazed clown.

"Well I would, if I didn't blow up the hospital." He snickered. "And even if there was a hospital I could go to, why they would help me?" He said like he was talking to a stupid kid.

"They are good people, if someone needs help, they would without hesitation." He said, ignoring the hospital comment.

"Oh please, stop. My heart's breaking. Anyway I did I good job," the Commissioner looked at him dubiously, "What? The bone's still in place." The Joker pulled back his sleeve and lifted it to Gordon's face. "See?" He giggled as the head of police grimaced at the sight.

"You need to… Oh never mind. About down town, why did you blow up that building?"

What? I didn't do that!" He put his arm down.

"You had this." Gordon pulled out the detonator.

"…Yeah."

"It was in your possession when the building went off."

"Does not mean I did it!" Joker almost shouted.

"You're lying." Came a new voice from behind the Commissioner. He turned to see who it was.

"Harlow, now is not-"

The Joker interrupted, "You're the one who wanted to see me, I started to think that you chickened out."

Harlow glared at the clown, but he only got a smile back. He turned to Gordon, "I wanted to talk to him."

"Follow me, we'll talk out side." Gordon said sternly, turning to Joker he said, "Do not do anything."

"Me? What would I do?" He grinned evilly.

Both officers walked out, not bothering to look back at the lunatic.

* * *

><p>"That is the reason why I did not want you talking to him."<p>

"What? I didn't do anything." Harlow growled angrily.

"He will not respond the way you want him to if you talk to him like that."

"You're talking like you know him." He didn't let Gordon speak, instead he carried on, "He is not some child you speak to, you can't just ask him nicely and you'll get the answer you want! No, he is a psycho and psychos always have something up their sleeves. Can't you see that he was lying?"

Gordon sighed, "I was deducing whether he was lying or not, I just need him to tell me more."

"So you actually think he could be telling the truth, what a load of -"

"I think he could be, yes."

The look of Harlow's face was priceless; if only it wasn't a serious situation they could have all had a good laugh out of it.

"What? Why? He's a murderer, and he was there at the scene, he was holding the detonator! Of course he did it." The detective was getting frustrated, how could he believe that clown?

"Yes he also likes the attention; to let people know that he had done something, but if you look at what he is wearing then you can _see_ that he didn't want to be seen. One of the officers had told me that he was even wearing a bandana to cover his scars, and he's never done that!" Gordon decided not to mention about Joker not resisting arrest that was something he would need to find more about later.

Harlow sighed in defeat; he obviously couldn't win this argument. "I still want to talk to him."

Gordon gave him a look, the one that says 'think again'.

"At least let me be in the same room." He persuaded.

Gordon let out a long sigh, "Fine, just do as I say and don't interrupt him."

Harlow pulled a face when his boss turned to open the door to the interrogation room, he knew it was childish but it did make him feel better.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello! So yeah, another chapter, not as long as the other one but I really wanted to post it, so here it is XD.**

**Well one of the important bits of the story as now been shown! I hope you understand what I wrote and about what's happening. Feel free to ask if you don't, I'll explain :D!**

**Disclaimer****: You know which characters are mine. Lol.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>The Joker looked up from his arm again as the door in front of him opened. He stopped picking at his wound and moved his arms to his lap.<p>

There was a long silence after the two officers took there seats, and the Joker was getting restless.

"Well?" He said, his hand started picking at the gash on his arm again out of agitated boredom.

Harlow was also looking at Gordon, willing him to hurry up and say something, or he would.

Gordon thought about at how agitated both were becoming, they didn't know how similar they were, "Back to where we left off, why did you have the detonator if you didn't have anything to do with the building explosion?"

"Uh, these people threw it at me." The Joker said simply.

"… They threw it at you?" Gordon asked, he glanced Harlow, who rolled his eyes, obviously not believing the clown.

"Yeah, they told me to." The Joker couldn't believe he was actually answering the questions… _Normally_. He felt a headache coming on.

"I thought you didn't do what people told you?" Harlow said, ignoring the glare he got from his temporary partner.

"Reflex, and I wasn't just gonna let it hit me. Either way, that building was gonna blow, whether I wanted it to or not." The Joker lifted his arms onto the metal table and started to tap a random beat. That was when Harlow got a real good look at the red mush of Jokers arm. He felt _good _seeing the Joker like that, he deserved it anyway.

"What did they look like?" Gordon hoped that the Joker would continue cooperating, they were actually getting somewhere with this.

"You know, normal people, well sort of. They looked," he turned his head to the side, thinking of the right word, "Empty… Like the people you would fine in Arkham when they had given up on seeing the outside world again…" He gave both the officers grin. But on the inside the mere word sent shivers up his spine and fear in his chest, 'Oh Crane would have a field day.' He thought numbly.

Gordon looked at him when he mentioned Arkham, but continued with his questions.

The Joker inwardly sighed when more questions were thrown his way. But he answered them anyway, he didn't have the strength to argue, his headache being the main culprit.

* * *

><p>In the less dense part of the Narrows, gathered in an abandoned apartment, three men sat scattered around the room. The youngest sat on a moth-eaten couch with his knees pulled to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. The next, who was only slightly older than the first, sat at the dust covered table, drawing pictures on it with his fingers. The oldest, leaned on the counter in the kitchen, looking down at his feet.<p>

A small sob broke the silence. JoJo, the one sat at the table, looked at Pipsqueak, over on the couch, with sympathy but carried on drawing dust pictures.

"Not so tough now, are ya?" Chuckles said but with no real emotion in it, although with a glare from JoJo, he quickly apologised.

"I…I…I don't…" Pipsqueak never finished his sentence as another sob ripped through him. JoJo stood and sat next to him but not actually touching, hoping it would give some comfort.

"You should go home, kid." The eldest said, glancing over at the two on the settee.

"I don't have one… And to hell with going back to that orphanage." He said half-angrily.

There was another stretch of awkward silence, but Chuckles spoke up again, changing the subject. "I knew the Boss was crazy, but really?" When no one answered, continued, "Something must have happened that night…"

"H-he seemed fine when he arrived…" Pipsqueak trailed off.

"No, he was injured." JoJo whispered.

"It was his arm, right? None of us missed it." Chuckles said.

"Yes but there was blood in his hair." JoJo said nothing more.

"So h-he had a head injury?" The youngest looked up at JoJo, who smiled at the correct answer.

"Makes sense, he did look like he was having a hard time standing up… And concentrating…" Chuckles looked over a JoJo, who looked in deep thought, "Is there something you're not telling us, JoJo?" Chuckles smirked, of course he knew something the others didn't and he won't tell unless he's certain.

"I'm still figuring something out…" He nodded.

Just then the door burst open and hit the wall with a loud bang. All of the clown henchmen jumped.

"Well, finally, I've been looking for you everywhere… Hey, what happened to you guys?"

"Bulldog? Wow, did you miss out on all of the 'excitement'." Chuckles said sarcastically.

"Where have you been?" Pipsqueak said quietly.

Bulldog shrugged, "It's not important, but what happened? Where's the Boss?"

"Well I dunno, he ran of dragging Squeaky's and Smiley's half dead bodies."

"What? Why?" He looked at all of the remaining clowns.

"He went berserk! Started attacking everyone a-a-and…" Pipsqueak pulled his legs closer to his chest.

"We dunno why, we thought he left."

"Damn," He walked over to Chuckles, "Is the kid ok? You'd think he'd be used to murder now. What happened?" He whispered.

"Despite it being people he knew, there was something different about the Boss."

"Why don't he just go home?"

"Apparently, don't have one."

Bulldog sighed; he turned to look at the two on the couch. Pipsqueak looked like he was asleep but his heavy, panicked breathing told another story. JoJo was staring into space.

"How did you escape?" Bulldog asked.

"We ran. What d'you think?"

Bulldog was about to retort when JoJo spoke up.

"It wasn't the Joker."

Everyone turned to him.

"Are you crazy? We saw what happened! We saw him!" Pipsqueak was almost in hysterics.

"Yeah, JoJo. What do you mean?" Chuckles walked into the living room, with Bulldog following suit.

JoJo looked up. "Trust me."

* * *

><p>The Joker wasn't even listening any more; he just laid his head on his good hand, looking bored and tired. But inside, he was fighting off the worst headache on earth.<p>

Harlow left but Gordon was positive he was looking through the one-way glass.

The Commissioner could see that he was not getting anything out of these questions and was about to give the clown a little time on his own but then he thought of something.

"Do you know what happened to two of your hench-men?"

That caught the attention of the Joker, who lifted his head up with a confused look on his face, "What?"

"We found two of your clowns murdered and left in two different places, did you know this?" He didn't want to go into great detail.

"It's not my problem but no, I didn't." He looked thoughtful, "I haven't checked on them in a while." He took a deep breath, the pain increased a bit.

"Right, ok… I'll be back." Gordon stood and exited the room.

The Joker sighed with relief, he felt his eyes getting heavier, he rubbed them but laid his head on his arms. Maybe if he slept, the pain would go away, he had began doubting how long he could last without shooting himself in the head.

'**Pathetic.**'

"Huh?" The Joker lifted his head up, expecting one of the stupid cops. Anyone would be stupid if they called the Joker pathetic. But instead he saw that he was still alone in the interrogation room. He turned to look behind him. 'I hope the police didn't notice anything. God, what's going on?'

'**Look at you, worthless. Not even the police are scared of you now.**'

The Jokers heart rate spiked uncomfortably. He made a very distressing conclusion: If you're alone in a room and you begin hearing voices, where are they most likely coming from? Your own head.

'No… No, no, nonono. That can't… This isn't…' The Joker gripped at the metallic surface of the table. He stood up abruptly, the metal clang of the chair echoed around the room as he pushed it back. He wanted out now.

'**Even if you leave this room Joker, You won't be able to get rid of me.**' The voice gave a chuckle, which sounded more like a growl.

"I DON'T CARE!" The Joker shouted, not even acknowledging that he screamed it out loud, and ran over to the heavy metal door and started kicking, punching and scratching at it, shouting at the idiots to let him out.

'**Really? You think that's going to work? You're as useless as everyone thinks you are.**'

"No-one thinks I'm useless, there too scared of me." The Joker growled out. He stopped attacking the door and stood there, panting heavily.

'**You know who I mean**.'

The Joker screamed and it sounded horribly animalistic, he stormed over to the other side of the room, pushed the table out of the way so it crashed into the wall, and picked up the chair. He put what strength he had left into throwing the seat at the double-sided glass, knowing there were people behind it. It left a beautiful pattern, very similar to a spider's web but the Joker didn't see it, he was in one of the corners, away from the door, huddled on the floor, trying to stop the pain and the taunts the voice was saying. His eyes had watered again but to hell if he was letting either the voice or the police see him cry. The were not going to best him.

On the other side of the glass, three guards stood looking at the prisoner with open mouths and disbelief in their eyes. They looked at each other, all silently asking the same question: What just happened?

"I'll go and get the Commissioner…" One of them said and ran from the room.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello once again, people. Sorry for keeping you waiting, sort of been busy believe it or not... -ish. Went to see the Amazing Spiderman, Oh my God it was soo cool XD **

**Aaaah! The new BATMAN is out! I wanna see it sooo bad! It's gonna be awesome! My brother ordered a Batman costume just to wear it to the cinema, it gonna be so funny XD**

**Ok, gotta calm down a bit, lol. So yeah, uh, dunno what to think of this chapter. Eh, whatever.**

**Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, except things you don't recognise.**

**ENJOY!**

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><p>"He did what?" The Commissioner stood up from his desk. Harlow turned in his chair, interest showing in his eyes.<p>

"Well, uh, he sort of went crazy… Started screaming and throwing stuff…" The guard said with a grimace.

Gordon rushed to the interrogation room with the guard and Harlow in tow.

Once they reached the room, Gordon accessed the damage. He managed to break the glass again (hopefully not with his head like last time), the chairs and table were knocked over and pushed to the sides of the confined area, and Gordon spotted red streaks on the door, presumably the Joker's blood.

"What happened?" He turned to the others in the room; he was only gone for a few minutes, how could the Joker do this, he seemed fine when he left, sure he looked a little tired but that couldn't of lead to this event.

The guards looked at each other, clearly stuck on how to answer. Instead they just shrugged their shoulders.

Gordon sighed, he peered through the glass at the Joker, who was huddled in the corner and hiding his face. He was beyond confused right now.

"Well did anything set him off?"

"Hmm, he did start… Talking to himself."

"Ha, really?" Harlow didn't even try to stop the laughter. "Even he can't say he's not crazy now." The detective looked horribly delighted.

"Harlow stop, this is serious." Gordon thought for a moment, "Go and get a doctor."

Harlow looked confused, "What?"

"A doctor, possibly from Arkham."

"Why?"

Gordon looked at him incredulity, "Because Arkham doctors specialise in psychological development."

"No, I meant, why me?"

"Just go, Harlow"

Reluctantly he left; his footsteps disappeared as he moved down the hall.

* * *

><p>"I'm so glad that you could come at such a short notice." Gordon said, shaking Dr. Elson's hand.<p>

"That's fine." He gave a smile. "Sometimes you just need to get out of that building; it's nice to have a break."

Gordon gave an understanding smile and began leading the way to the caged beast.

"Can I ask, why didn't you just bring him straight back to Arkham?" They stopped outside the door to the interrogation room.

"I didn't think that he was… Stable enough to move." Gordon moved to open the door. Harlow sat spinning slightly on a leather chair, a cup of coffee in his hands. He was alone; the others must have left already. Gordon had sent them home.

The Joker hadn't moved from his spot since the last time Gordon looked, this unnerved him; it was not like the Joker just to sit in one position for a long period of time and not do anything. The Commissioner placed his bet on the 'metal breakdown' the clown had, as Harlow called it.

Harlow glanced at both of them, "You gonna go in there or talk to him out here?" He said to the doctor.

"Well, from what I have been told I suppose I should go in."

Harlow's eyebrows shot up, "Really? But he's a lunatic."

The doctor scowled, "We don't call them that in Arkham. And yes, I don't think it would be a good idea talking to him when he can't see who it is talking."

"Well that would explain his reaction when we were telling him that we were gonna move him." Harlow looked thoughtful.

"Huh?" The Dr. Elson looked at the Commissioner.

"We were going to move him to a cell without one-way glass, so it would be safer but he, well, he didn't react 'normally'." He explained.

The doctor only nodded. He stared at the curled up form of the Joker, he hadn't been assigned to the clown himself, but he had heard from other employees what he had been like while he was in Arkham; usually, while he was in a session with his doctor, he would ignore them and if they hit a subject he didn't like or if he just got bored, he would just flip out; shouting, insulting him in his own 'humorous' way. Then he would be taken back to his cell. He didn't talk to other inmates or really interact with them at all; the only person he would cooperate with is Jonathan Crane. It was a tough job getting the Joker back to his cell once he saw Crane in the dinner hall and the former doctor didn't move either, probably just to wind up the staff than actually being in the clown's presence. Or maybe he was wrong; sometimes you never know what the inmates are thinking.

But seeing the Joker like this is nothing like what he read from his file or heard from others, now the Joker looked helpless, actually vulnerable. In truth, Dr. Elson didn't want to go in there; he could see the damage that the clown had done in there, and had watched the homemade video threats on the news. But it was part of his job.

* * *

><p>Harlow got up from his seat, "Well I'm out, good luck with the crazy."<p>

"Where are you going?" Gordon asked.

"Home, my shift ended five minutes ago." He pointed at the clock on the wall above the doorway. It showed the time being 6:35. He turned and walked out of the room without a second look.

There was a moment of silence before Gordon spoke up, "Shall we get started then, if you're sure."

"Yes, the sooner the better." Elson said, nervousness beginning to make its self known.

Gordon opened the door for the doctor, nodding to him, "I need to go and get back up ready, just in case. You go in now but I advise against it."

After watching Gordon go, Elson walked into the room, he decided that it wouldn't take long for the Commissioner to come back. He made sure that his foot steps could be heard, not wanting to startle the clown when he reached him.

When he got closer, just standing in front of the clown, he saw that he was shaking, and his breathing was shallow like he couldn't get enough air into his lungs.

"Joker?" The doctor called quietly, crouching down to his level.

The man in front of him stopped shaking completely; Elson didn't know what to make of the situation.

The clown did nothing and the silence stretched on for a while.

"Joker, can you hear me? I'm here to help you, you can talk to me." Elson tried again.

"**He can't hear you, but I could be willing to participate.**" The 'Joker' looked up.

The doctor flinched back not expecting to see the… Thing in front of him. His eyes were red, actually red. The crimson orbs seemed to pierce right into his soul and he found it incredibly hard to look away, like looking into those eyes removed his control of moving. The horrid monster gave the doctor a smile; rows of sharp teeth were presented. Even the voice itself was the most terrifying thing he had ever heard, it sounded like what you would hear in a horror movie.

Cold, pale fingers (almost blue in colour) found their way around the doctor's neck in a death grip; Elson found that every passing second, the difficulty to breathe became stronger.

"**But unluckily for you, I'm not in a good mood.**" He slowly stood up, pulling Elson with him. He frowned when he saw the doctor try to speak, the 'Joker' tightened his grip on the flesh, letting his rough talons pierce the skin and let the warm blood pool around his fingers and fall down the mans neck. His gaze followed the trail until they got caught on the white collar, slowly fanning out into the fabric. His eyes caught the doctors again, and he smiled, "**Red is such a beautiful colour, don't you think? How 'bout we make more**."

The doctor paled, why did he have to be so stupid and go in without police officer in the room.

* * *

><p>The 'Joker' threw the man over to the other side of the room. The doctor hit the wall, his head making a sickening crack, he groaned, not being able to move, out of pain and shock. The clown stalked over, smiling all the way. The Arkham employee looked up from his face down position, he cringed at the smile, it was nothing like the Joker's, he couldn't explain it but it just looked… Different.<p>

"**This is only going to hurt for a second**." Then without warning, a shoe was crushing his hand. He screamed at the pain but slowly calmed down to a whimpering mess. The monster decided that he didn't like that, so he moved onto one foot, leaving all the weight going to the doctor's hand. They both heard the sound of cracking, the bones in his hands where slowly breaking and he was screaming once more.

The weight soon left his hand, but he was picked up again by his hair, **"Oh, come now. That wasn't so bad, we're only just beginning.**" That ghastly grin still plastered on his face.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh one more thing... If any of you have any idea's of what names to call, uh, the 'Joker' let me know. Could use some help on that.<strong>

**Thanks, see you in the next chapter!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey! Long wait for this chapter, I know... My excuse is writer's block. So I left the story for a bit... went to see THE DARK KNIGHT RISES! (Best film ever, right next to the Avengers XD) Then I thought you had all waited enough (I felt guilty) So I wrote this for you. Sorry It's short, I just didn't want you waiting any more, aren't I nice.**

**Disclaimer: The clowns are mine. That's it... Oh and the plot.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>The door burst open and armed police officers barged in, their guns aimed at the 'Joker' who was crouching over the doctor holding a shard of glass.<p>

The clown gave a sigh, **"Now I understand why the Joker hates you lot."**

"Stand away from him Joker!" The Commissioner said. He dared a look at Elson and relief passed through him; from what he could see he only had a couple of cuts and bruises, nothing too serious.

**"Don't call me that, I am nothing like that waste of space."** He growled out, he stood up but kept his head down and his eyes focused on the floor. He saw the doctor crawl away from him and scowled, unhappy that he was interrupted of his work.

The Commissioner ignored the comment, "Drop the glass."

**"Why? You all have guns, you have an advantage over me anyway and that's not very fair."** He glanced up at the officers, grinning. Most of them flinched.

"Just drop it." Gordon knew there was something wrong, because, really, when did someone go from green eyes to red in ten minuets? He knew this was out of his control.

**"No."** Was all he said as he pulled the doctor back by his foot and forced the piece of glass through his chest.

Gordon almost felt pity when he shot the 'Joker', aiming for his leg; he was already injured; now he had to cope with a bullet wound. The impact of the bullet made the mad man lose his balance; he fell, hitting his head on the wall behind him on the way.

The doctor was screaming, his hands covering the wound around the glass imbedded in his chest.

"Get him to a hospital!" Gordon ordered, and the guards picked up the injured man and left the Commissioner and the Joker alone. Gordon walked over and closed the door, then looked back to the Joker, who was now rubbing the back of his head with a grimace on his face.

Gordon didn't say anything; he just studied the clown closely, making sure that he was back to normal… Well as normal as the Joker could get. The Joker opened his eyes and Gordon was glad to see green instead of red.

The view the Joker was met with was the Commissioner looking at him strangely, "Don't you know it's rude to stare?" He said, irritably. He tried to hoist himself into a standing position but as soon as he put pressure on his left leg, he collapsed again. He looked down at the problem, "What the hell happened?" A large red patch covered his purple trousers near the knee area. His hands carefully inspected the wound; it was a small injury but just below the knee cap, this was going to make walking difficult. He looked up at Gordon, confusion on his face, "What happened?" He repeated.

Gordon expected the Joker to start shouting, or at least stop the façade but he generally looked confused.

He was just about to answer him when the Joker began speaking again, "Did you shoot me?" He was looking at the gun still in Gordon's hand. He looked down at his leg once more, feeling the underside for the bullet's exit… There wasn't one. "Damn it…"

"You honestly don't remember?"

"If I remembered, I wouldn't be asking why there is a bullet wound in my leg!" The Joker took a deep breath, "There was someone in here…"

"That would have been the doctor went sent for." Gordon started to pick up the table and chairs, putting them in there rightful places.

"Doctor?"

"From Arkham, some guards outside said you started throwing stuff around." Gordon said, as he took a seat, "Remember that?"

The Joker shrugged, "It's all a bit fuzzy. What about the doctor? Why isn't he here now?"

Gordon grimaced; he really didn't want to be the one to tell him. The 'how to tell him' was a bigger problem. He was so focused on what he could say that he didn't notice that he had been silent for a long time.

"That bad, huh?"

Gordon sighed, "You stabbed him in the chest with a piece of glass." Please don't ask any more questions, Gordon thought.

"That's not bad… I've done worse."

"The 'bad' bit is why you can't remember, unless you're lying to me."

"Lie? Me? Never, I keep telling people; I'm a man of my word." He was playing with his trouser leg now, not sure what else he could do. He felt absolutely useless now.

Gordon looked over at the silent Joker, and never has he seen him look so miserable, despite his scars. One thought ran through his head constantly, 'We need the Batman.'

* * *

><p>Bruce was halfway across town, clad in his bat suit, still searching for the Joker's group of clowns. The only problem is that he didn't know where to start; he hated not having any clues to go on. Plus the last time he went searching, he found a horribly mutilated corpse and that was not a thing he wanted to see again. He supposed he would start with the Narrows.<p>

Jumping through the musky air of the Narrows, Batman began his search, unseen by the citizens below.

"So what are we gonna do now?" Bulldog said, now sitting opposite Chuckles around the dusty table.

"Hope he don't find us." Chuckles said, humourlessly. In any other situation, this would have counted as being funny.

"We just going to stay here, then?" Pipsqueak whispered, "'Cause I don't think that staying in one place is safe…"

"Calm down kid. How's he gonna find us?"

"We're still in the Narrows; it would be easy to find us. Hell, still being in Gotham makes us under the Joker's sight… Even if we don't know it…"

"Right, now you're just being paranoid." Bulldog laughed.

"You weren't there! You didn't see what he did!"

Bulldog was about to respond but JoJo interrupted, "Be quite, you might attract unwanted attention."

"And here I thought you liked me." A low voice spoke up from the window.

Everyone in the room turned there heads, not sure who to expect.

Pipsqueak almost sighed in relief when he saw pointed ears and a fluttering cape.

"What happened?" Batman growled out, wanting to get straight to the point.

"What do ya mean?" Chuckles asked.

The Bat glared at him, he did not need this, it took a surprisingly long time to find these clowns.

"The Joker, the two clowns, anything."

Chuckles was about to answer, when JoJo kicked him in the shin lightly, probably sensing a stupid retort about to come out of his mouth.

"We don't know were the Joker is. The other two were dragged somewhere by him, though I'm sure you know this."

"Was he acting any different?" He was strangely grateful for this clown; he seemed to be the only one who gets straight to the point.

"You could say that." He heard the youngest clown say, he looked over at the smart one again, looking for an explanation.

"I think you'll find what you're looking for over there." JoJo nodded behind him.

He looked over his shoulder to see the Bat-signal looming over the city. He gave one last look at the group and said, "Don't do anything stupid." Before he jumped off the windowsill to answer the signal.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry if it's a bit out of character.<strong>

**And I do have a name now for the Joker's other half... wait... Lol. **

**And I found out that I like Gordon and Joker talking... Weird, I know.**

**Anyway... Please review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello! So yeah, another chapter! Woo!**

**Disclaimer****: Nothing is mine except for the clowns and the Joker's other-half...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Gordon stood on the roof of the GCPD, the Bat-signal's light blasting into the night sky. He didn't expect him to come, considering that he was a wanted criminal now, but it was worth a shot. The truth was that Gordon didn't know what to think now, that little conversation he had with the Joker showed him a side to the clown that he didn't think existed, Gordon was past confused.<p>

Of course Batman wouldn't be able to go into the building; he would be put behind bars almost instantly. He just needed to know what to do in this situation.

He sighed after a few minuets of waiting and turned off the signal.

"Commissioner." Said a gruff voice behind him.

Gordon had to stop him self from jumping, did he have to do that? He turned around to face the dark crusader. "Batman, it's good to see you again."

"What's the problem?"

Of course, he liked being straight to the point. He took a deep breath, "It's the Joker."

"What's he done?" His voice got lower, like he despised the name.

"Well, a lot, but right now he's down in the Interrogation room."

Batman was silent for a couple of seconds, "I don't see the problem."

Gordon let out a humourless chuckle, if only he knew, Batman was harder to talk to than the Joker, "I don't think it's the Joker killing people…"

"So I'm looking for someone new?"

"Possibly, if it is someone new, they don't want anyone to find out."

Batman was silent again, probably thinking. "How do you know it's not the Joker?"

"I think you're gonna have to trust me on this one." How could he explain this condition of the Joker's?

Gordon sighed again. He turned to the edge of the building, looking over at the huge mass of corrupt city; he turned back to Batman, "Have you found out anything?"

"I found out that the Joker killed the two clowns."

Well, that didn't help Gordon at all. But of course he knew it wasn't really the Joker, he's already admitted that he didn't know anything about the dead clowns. The problem was that Batman didn't know what the clown has been through and Gordon still had trouble naming it, or at least, wording it properly.

"You found the other clowns then?"

"Yes, there in hiding down in the Narrows. I doubt they will do anything lest they catch the Joker's attention."

"So we don't need to worry about them, good."

The Batman began to walk closer to a shadowed area, preparing to leave, "What are you going to do with the clown?"

Gordon was hoping that Batman would catch on that there was something wrong, or maybe he had and he needed time to think. Gordon rubbed his temple to sooth the oncoming headache, "I don't know. I-"

"You're first thought wasn't to take him to Arkham?" Before Gordon could answer he jumped off of the building, disappearing into the darkness.

He began walking back inside, he new that the Joker would never agree to go to Arkham, not even when he does need help. But the Joker cannot stay in the GCPD and they cannot release him, so Arkham was the way to go. What he would give to go home right now.

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><p>The Joker looked up when he heared the door open. He was still sitting on the floor with his legs laid out before him; there was a small puddle of blood underneath his left leg. He had tried to get the bullet out but with no such luck, only making a mess of the injury and covering his fingers in blood.<p>

He watched the Commissioner sit down in the chair in front of him again, none of them said anything and the Joker was getting anxious again, 'Why did he have to be so quiet?'

"Soo… Where d'ya go?" The Joker asked.

Gordon looked over at the man on the floor, "I called Batman."

"Oh, I understand why you look like that now." He smiled.

"Like what?"

"Exhausted, a piece of work isn't he?"

Gordon allowed himself to smile, well the clown was right. He spotted the blood on the Joker's fingers, he should have guessed, that man had to do something. "Did you touch your knee?"

The Joker looked down at the ruined trouser leg, 'Where am going to get knew clothes?' He shook his head, 'Really brain, you think of clothes right now?'

"Uh, yeah. I got bored and it needs to come out…" He demonstrates by trying to bend it, he didn't get far.

"Bored? I was gone only a few minuets."

"You could have left me a colouring book or something…" He muttered.

Gordon shook his head, the Joker was something else, "You know if you got to Arkham, they could fix your arm and leg."

The Joker's heartbeat faltered at the word 'Arkham'. If they found out about this… Problem he had, they would never let him out (not like they would anyway) and they probably wouldn't help him, ever. If they didn't fix his injuries, they would have an advantage over him, one they wouldn't want to lose. He won't be able to fight back if he can't stand up, or escape.

"N-no, I'm good here…"

Vaguely, he heard the Commissioner speak but something else pushed to the front of his mind.

**"Really? The _word _scares you? How could you scoop this low? And having a conversation with an officer too. I need to fix this."**

That scared the Joker more than Arkham did. Fix what? How? He didn't want to know, how was he to stay on the good side of someone that hates his guts?

He noticed that the Commissioner had stopped speaking. "Uh, what?"

"Nothing, I was waiting for you to finish your conversation."

The Joker was surprised. "You know-?"

Gordon cut him off, "I have an idea." He continued the conversation, "They could really help you-"

Joker stopped listening again, this time on purpose, he didn't want to here about people that hated him more than Batman, or this thing in his head, ok maybe not the last one.

Everyone was all the same there, either brain-dead or in denial, and then the people who wish to help the inmates to the people who liked to feel in control. He was none of those things, the only one in the whole damn building.

Except Crane, yeah, the both of them thought outside the box. How long had Crane been in there now? The Joker had lost count on the days, why hadn't he tried to get out? Surely he must miss him.

The Joker let out a chuckle.

Or maybe Spooky. That hay-brained Scarecrow has got to miss him. Just a little.

It always made him laugh when Crane would talk out loud to Spooky, he could never guess if he knew he was doing it or he just liked the sound of his own voice.

… Wait, Crane and Spook-

He could go and ask Crane about what's happening, he was a doctor once. He felt laughter pushed its way up through his throat, how could he have not thought of this before. Yeah, he had to go into that 'Hospital' but Crane will be there, he'll tell him what's wrong. Crane'll be his doctor!

The Jokers laughter startled Gordon to a stop.

"Uh, Joker?"

"All right, Commissioner… You win… I'll go." The Joker said through giggles.

"Really?" What could have changed his mind?

"Yeah!"

The Commissioner stood up, waiting for the Joker to do the same, still eyeing the clown.

The Joker struggled to get up onto his two feet, but with the help from the wall behind him he made it. "You sure you're not going to fall asleep at the wheel old man? If you want I can drive."

"With your two injuries, not ever." He scoffed and led the clown to a car to take him to Arkham, still wondering what changed and being very cautious around him.

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><p><strong>So, writing Batman? Really depressing... Not really but he's so moody, it's no wonder the Joker wants to make him smile.<strong>

**And more Joker-Gordon talks! I'm gonna miss it. :( Maybe I'll get them to talk again later in the story :D**

**Review please!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys! So I give you another chapter! I won't be able to write for a while, a week, sorry. :(**

**So I just wanted to give you this one before I disappear.  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: No characters are mine.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>"Wait!"<p>

The Joker stopped walking and turned to face the Commissioner, leaning against the wall, "Why have we stopped? And here I thought you wanted me to go to Arkham, having second thoughts, are we?"

Gordon picked his handcuffs out of his pocket and motioned the Joker to turn around, smirking at how his face fell into a frown.

"Really?"

"Yes, safety pre-caution."

The Joker sneered as he turned around and he put his hands behind his back. As he felt the cool metal click around his wrists (being careful around his injury), he heard the Commissioner say, "For your protection too."

"And what does that mean?" He said, becoming irritated. He's had enough of being left in the dark about what's happening during his painful blackouts.

Gordon continued walking down the hallway. The place was almost empty considering the time, so they could both get out easily without being caught. Gordon was thankful for that, he would have trouble making an excuse as to why he was walking the clown out of the building, plus why the clown was going willingly. Which he was still wandering.

"Whatever that thing is, it obviously dislikes you. If it can't use its hands, the less damage it can do to others or yourself."

The Joker made a face behind his back but soon limped up to him.

After a couple of minuets of walking (or trying to, in the Jokers case), they both reached the backdoor of the building; Gordon pushed it open to reveal a couple of parked police cars. He walked out, followed by the Joker.

"Argh, why do they look the same? You people are so boring."

Gordon decided not to answer; he unlocked the car and opened the back passenger door, the Joker just looked at it and Gordon thought he was going to make a run for it. Thankfully, the Joker stepped forward towards the car and sat himself on the seat, careful not to squash his arm and placing his leg out to make it less bent.

Gordon shut the door and walked around the car to the driver's seat.

As he started the car, Gordon adjusted the passenger seat next to him, moving it forward so that the Joker would have more leg room. And then they were off to Arkham.

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><p>The roads were pretty clear, no traffic ahead and only stopping due to the occasional traffic light. Gordon looked into the rear view mirror, the Joker was leaning his head on the window looking out at the street.<p>

"So what made you change your mind?"

"Huh?" He took his head of the window to look at Gordon, well, the side of his head.

"Going to Arkham, because I doubt it was… Uh, the other one, unless he threatened you."

The Joker let out a breathy chuckle, "Nah, it wasn't him, I've got an idea." He smirked.

Gordon wasn't sure what to think, "Planning to hurt people on the way?"

"One: I don't plan things. Two: Only if they get in my way." He said, leaning back into the seat. He moved his fingers trying to regain feeling in them. After a while he sighed, "He needs a name… You have any idea?"

"Have you tried asking him?"

"I don't start the conversations; he does, usually to call me names and stuff. Then I blackout and I find out I killed someone."

"…Don't ask him."

The Joker laughed, "Right next question, what are you doing about the murders?"

Gordon sighed, there was that problem as well, he almost forgot, "… We thought it was you doing it, but now we know it's not, we're going to have to re-think everything."

"You don't think the Bat's doing it then? No, of course not. That other guy seems to think it was me."

"Harlow? Yeah, he's got a huge grudge against you."

"Any reason why? I don't think I've seen him before."

"I suppose he just doesn't like you and Batman ruining this city."

The clown laughed again but it soon died down though, once he saw a sign saying 'ARKHAM ASYLUM.'

He coughed nervously, "Well, that went quick." 'This is just to find Crane, and then you can escape again, maybe bringing him too.'

He stopped the car, parking it just outside the gates. Gordon got out and opened the door for the Joker, he struggled to get out but he managed.

Once he was on his feet, he looked at the building he once stayed in. This was the place nightmares were made. The place was surrounded by a thick stone wall; the gate was the only exit… To most people.

The building itself was covered in windows, for the people who are privileged enough to have one of those rooms, and it towered over the poor person walking into their new home.

He looked over at Gordon who was asking permission to enter. Loudly, the gate creaked open, the Joker followed Gordon beyond the gates, he hesitated a bit, but the pounding in his head made him carry on. The rusty gate shut behind them, and his heart sped up again. He heard the telltale click of the handcuffs unlocking. The Joker rubbed his wrists, giving Gordon a confused look, all he got was a shrug and, "You're in Arkham, I'm not in charge of you now."

'Did he just give me permission to do what I want after he's gone? I think he did.' The Joker smiled and limped behind the Commissioner.

They both stood at the bottom of the stairs, Gordon looked over at the injured clown.

The Joker grumbled, "I hate stairs."

Gordon got to the top before him; he opened the door and went inside. When the Joker got to the top, he spotted four Arkham workers, reading to take him down to his cell through the maze of hallways. The thing in his head growled, although the Joker was not sure why, he just wished it wouldn't, it kind of hurt.

The woman at the registry desk finished talking with the Commissioner and turned to him, "Are you ready to go to your room?"

'Cell' the Joker corrected silently. "Nice to see you to, have you missed me?" He remembered her from the first time he was brought here.

She motioned the orderlies to take him away, "I'll take that as a yes." He waved goodbye to her once the guards grabbed his arms. He spotted the Commissioner, "Oh! Whoa, whoa wait. Commish, could you do something for me? My jacket, it's down in the Narrows, some old guy has it. Could you fetch it? You can keep it in the GCPD, don't bring it here, don't worry nothing's in it 'cept for a couple of knives. Thanks. Ok boys, let's go!" He giggled, while they dragged him down into the never ending catacombs.

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><p><strong>Kinda short I know... Oh, and when I said it was the last time I was writing the Joker and Gordon talking... It was a lie, I couldn't help myself XD So this is the last time.<strong>

**Sorry there's no Crane is this chapter :( Hopefully the next.**

**Review please!**


	15. Chapter 15

***Sneaks in with new chapter* Oh hey guys, you know I said that the other chapter was going to be the last? Yeah, I sorta lied again... I surprise myself sometimes. so this is gonna be the last one until next week... Friday, I think... Yeah.**

**I wanna thank you guys for the reviews, I seem to be getting more, which is good, they make me all happy inside and obviously write more. XD**

**And I want to check with L, who is a guest reviewer, is this better? No action yet, but I don't want the Joker in confinement yet, he needs to see Crane XD**

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognise are not mine.**

**So yeah, enjoy and review!**

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><p>The Joker sat and waited, the guards had chucked him into a room half an hour ago, if he counted properly. His room consisted of… A bed; a hard, metal bed, with thin sheets, and nothing else. Not even a window. The long ceiling light flickered six times since he had been here, and he was so bored.<p>

'I need more paint…' He thought. Most of his face paint had rubbed of now and now he looked as boring as the room did.

They had said that someone would come down and check his arm and leg. His arm had stopped hurting ages ago, right around the time he lost felling in it. The ache in his leg was a killer though.

He didn't need anyone to take care of him; he could get the bullet out himself. He pulled himself up of the floor and limped to the bed. He sat on the edge and put his bad leg on the bed, stretched out. Pulling up his trouser leg, he inspected the bullet hole. It had already started to heal itself, scabbing around the edges. He used his finger to push into the wound and follow the bullets path, it stung a little and the blood started pouring out again, covering his hand. Through all the squishy flesh in the way, he felt something hard, hoping it wasn't bone he pulled his finger out and giggled. Replacing it with two fingers, he tried to grab it. After about five minuets, the Joker through a small, blood covered object at the wall in front of him. The little clanging sound was the only noise in the room besides from the Joker's giggling.

He looked at the crimson liquid on his hand, and then at the boring grey walls around him, he had an idea, something to keep his mind occupied. He got up and hopped to a wall and began to use his blood to draw. First he drew a big building, on the front of it; he marked it in capital letters: GCPD. Then a small stick man outside, waving at the Joker, he smiled and waved back. He scooped up more blood from his leg, and began drawing above the GCPD; it had two pointed ears, and very big wings, and it was contained in a circle. The Joker laughed at the Bat-signal, why he hadn't used it yet, he doesn't know. Next he began drawing a larger stick person with half of their face all in red, on the other side he put a cross where the eye should have been and a curved down line for the mouth.

"Oh Harv, why so serious?" He smiled, staring at the bloodied picture of Dent. He nodded like the picture was saying something, "Right, you're dead!" He laughed like he hadn't laughed in days. "You know, I had thought you were better than that, but all you wanted was revenge. And look where that got you! Well at least you're with your little squeeze now." He continued laughing as he drew an exploding building next to Harv. He was so busy with is art work he didn't hear the thick, metal door open.

"Oh my…"

The Joker looked over his shoulder to see a young woman in the doorway. "Uh, hi. Who are you? You don't look like a doctor; well you do, but not one of the mental doctors."

"I'm the nurse they sent…" She trailed off, staring at the slightly childish pictures. She then focused on the Joker, "I'm Maddie." When she spotted the confused look on his face, explained, "We like to be on first name bases here."

"You really think that's a good idea?" He smirked. "Did they send you on your own?"

"No." She gestured behind her, there were two guards.

He nodded and smiled at them. They took no notice.

"I was here just to check up on you… They didn't say it was this bad…"

He followed her stare to his leg, which was still bleeding freely.

"Oh, it wasn't." He bent down and picked up the bullet of the floor. "You don't have to worry, I got it." He chucked it at her feet and went back to drawing himself stabbing the Bat, underneath the picture of him and the Bat in the interrogation room, which was just a box.

"You need to come with me."

"Huh, why?"

"You need stitches."

"No, I don't. It'll heal on its own."

"We need to clean it." She said stubbornly.

The Joker thought for a moment, "Can't I use my spit?"

She grimaced, what was with this guy? "No that would make it worse."

The Joker mock sighed dramatically. "Fine, but can I finish my art work?"

She looked relieved that he agreed and nodded.

He turned back around but instead of putting his blood on the wall, he placed his blood covered fingers onto his cheek and followed the trail of scar tissue over his mouth to the other side.

He span back around and smiled at the nurse, "Finished!"

Maddie sighed, what else should she expect? "Anything else?"

As he was just about to shake his head, the evil in his head spoke, **"You should kill her."**

To his surprise, he did contemplate it. But the decided that he didn't want to be put into the squishy room just yet. So he didn't. He just followed her out of the room and thought of the different ways he could kill her right now.

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><p>He was told to sit on a chair and not move. Maddie was searching the white cupboards; the Joker didn't pay attention to her when she said what for.<p>

She turned around holding a syringe full of clear liquid.

"Uh, what's that?"

"It will numb the area for the stitches."

The Joker shook his head, "No, no no. I won't need that."

The nurse didn't seem to take notice of him, as soon as she got close enough; he grabbed her by the hand. "I said, I don't need it."

"But-"

"Oh, come on. It's only a couple of stitches. Why do you try sewing up your own face without that stuff? Without experience… Hm? …In fact that isn't such a bad idea." He used his free hand to grab her face.

She gasped and struggled to get away, "I would do that, sweetheart. It'll only make it worse."

Just then the door opened, "Maddie, I just went to check with-" The new nurse just looked at the seen before him, frozen out of shock.

The Joker quickly let go of her and put his hands on his lap, "Don't you know it's rude to enter a room without knocking."

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><p>From that moment on, the Joker was not aloud to be with anyone alone. Or near Maddie.<p>

They somehow did manage to stitch the Joker's leg and be grossed out by his arm, which was horribly infected. He is now on some sort of pill.

Apparently, before the nurse froze out of shock, he was going to say that the Joker was meant to be taken to another room because some people were checking out his artwork, but now he was sitting at the desk of his new doctor, Dr. Marissa Skuld, for his bad behaviour.

She had a stern look on her face, and her blonde hair was pulled back and tied into a ponytail. Her full fringe just mad her look all the more frightening. Pale, grey eyes bore into his green and were not backing down.

'Hehe, she's got some guts. I like her already and she hasn't even spoken yet.'

"I don't see any reason why you would attack one of my staff. Why don't you tell me what happened?" Her voice demanded an answer. This was an order disguised as a question.

"Do I have to know? I need my beauty sleep." She did not look impressed.

"All you have to do is tell why you did it, then you can get your… 'Beauty' sleep."

The Joker was silent. He started to look around the room; it was just like every other office, minus sharp objects, except the pen in Dr. Marissa's jacket pocket.

"Hmm, would you believe me if I said that she tried to attack me?"

"No."

"Well, she was holding a weapon." He grinned, he loved playing games.

"A syringe?" A brow lifted up.

"Well yeah, I've used one as a weapon before. Hehe, wasn't pretty."

"Creative, as I've seen from your pictures. But we'll talk about that tomorrow. If that's all you've got to say, then I think this session is over."

Before the Joker could say another word, the two Arkham employees that lead him to the infirmary, came through the door and waited for the Joker to get up, 'They're a lot more calmer than the last time I was here… I don't like it.'

He did get up after he gave a smile to his 'new doctor' and let himself be lead to his room.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey guys! I have another chapter for you to read! Yay! Well, more of a filler chapter, I think... Sorry...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anyone from The Dark Knight.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>He got shoved in his room, that's were he saw the horrid, orange jumpsuit type of clothing, sitting on his bed. He looked behind him to the guards, "No."<p>

"You will put it on; we are told we cannot leave until you do. And I really don't want to be here all day."

"You're kidding. You guys really need a new designer or something." He picked it up with his pointer finger and thumb, with a disgusted look on his face, "Would you wear this? No? Well, there is a reason for that." He chucked the foul Arkham outfit at the guard and sat on his bed, inspecting his paintings. He was glad to see that they had not been touched.

"You _will _put it on." The brute repeated, stepping into the room.

The Joker quirked a grin at him, all he had to do was get him closer into the room, disorientate him with a quick punch to the temple, then move behind him and snap his neck. Easy. As for the other one… Aim for the eyes. His grin widened. He was just about to provoke the guard once more when a thought stopped him. _How are you going to find Crane in Solitary Confinement?_

'… Dammit Crane. Why do you have to ruin my fun?'

**'Who cares about Crane? Just kill them.'**

'Shut up, I need to find Crane… I won't kill them, for now.'

'**You think Crane will help, don't you? You're a fool, you will never get rid of me, I will always be here…'**

Before he could answer back, a flash of orange hit him in his face. He scrambled to get the fabric that was attacking his face, off. As soon as he looked up, the heavy metal door slammed shut, leaving him alone in the cell again.

He looked at the clothing in his hands, "But orange isn't my colour, this will so clash with my eyes." He whined.

The Joker looked down at his clothes, they were covered in dirt and blood; not all of it was his. 'Have I been walking around like this all day? Groooossss.' He sighed, "You win this time Arkham…" He decided to change out of his clothes and into the outfit they think is acceptable to wear. He shivered both at the temperature difference and the feeling of being owned by Arkham once more.

He yawned and his eyes felt heavier, 'Oh well, I did say I needed my beauty sleep. Not that I need it thought.'

He laid down on the bed and stared at the pictures on the wall until he fell asleep.

The sound of knocking on the metal door woke him up; he groaned and turned around so that he was facing the wall nearest the bed. He heard the door open, "C'mon clown, up!"

It was one of the guards from yesterday, 'They're permanent then.' He thought, 'I should get to know them.' The Joker grinned, eyes still closed. If he can't kill people, he'll be annoying as hell. He groaned as he stretched and reluctantly, he got out of bed… onto the floor. "Why?"

"Dr. Skuld demanded another session today." The man grunted.

"I thought people are referred to their first names," before the guard could say something, the Joker carried on, "But it is a stupid rule… What time is it?"

"7:30."

"I have to go to see the Doc before breakfast? That's not fair." He pouted.

"Doctors orders. Hurry up."

The Joker giggled, 'At least he has a little sense of humour.' He got up off the floor and dusted down his orange uniform. Might as well get on with it.

He was taken through the corridor that leads to Dr. Marissa's office, passing other cells on the way. Most of the inmates were looking through the little window in the door, some cowered away when they saw the Joker, others shouted and started to bang their fists against the door. The Joker just smiled.

He's already memorised the route to his cell to the office, but there were a lot of corridors that needed exploring, he didn't get to do it last time. If he was in his old cell, he would know all the routes to the, his former doctor's room and the exit. He wondered why he wasn't seeing his old doctor; he hadn't done anything that bad. Not to be moved. 'Unless this new doctor asked for me.' He thought. The Joker couldn't help but laugh, who in their right mind would do that?

After a couple of minuets they were standing outside the office, the same guard that woke him up knocked on the door. The other didn't do much, he just followed behind him, doing what is ordered. 'How boring.' The Joker thought, as he glanced at said guard.

The door opened and the Joker saw Dr. Skuld sitting at her desk, as usual.

He almost skipped forward and jumped into the chair, "So what's this about Doc?"

"I'm sure you know how this works Joker." She said in her flat, monotone voice.

"Yeah, I am. Just not in the morning, I need my food, I'm a growing man."

"You will, it will be delivered to you in your room-"

"What? Why?" Anger bubbled in the Joker's chest.

She didn't answer straight away but when she did, it was a different subject, "Would you like to tell me about your paintings?"

The Joker didn't answer right away either, 'They're gonna send me back to my cell after this… They're keeping me away from the others… They're separating me from Crane…'

The Joker stared at her, looking straight in her pale eyes, "No."

"And why's that?" She questioned.

He sighed inwardly, 'Anything to get me talking.'

"You've got a funny name."

"Excuse me?"

"Your name, 'Skuld'? It's funny. Not funny 'haha' but funny 'weird'."

"Try not to run off track Joker." The sarcastic care in her voice was irritatingly obvious.

"You're not getting what you want until I get what I want."

Her eyes narrowed, "And what do you want?"

"Crane. Mydoctor."

"Jonathan Crane has been relived of his duties as a doctor."

The Joker shook his head, "No no, no, I don't think you understand. He's _my _doctor."

Dr. Skuld leaned forward, "If you answer my questions, I might be willing to reschedule my sessions with you."

He smiled, a good deal. She gets to know about silly paintings and made up pasts, while he gets a little more sleep, Crane and a chance to sharpen up on his story telling.

But it's obvious that she wants to get in someone's good books. He wants to know why.

"The paintings." Dr. Skuld said simply. He pulled out a couple of pieces of paper and put them on the desk in front of him.

They were photos of the blood drawings on his wall, "You took pictures of them. I hope you're not planning on selling them, I doubt you will get very much for them."

She just looked at him, almost daring him to go off track again.

Before he could talk, his headache started up once more, he tried not to show the pain and if she saw anything she didn't say a word.

'What the hell do you want?'

**'What makes you think I want something? I just like to see you in pain.'**

He could feel the beast smile.

The Joker could see that she was going to speak again so he pointed to one, "It's the GCPD."

She nodded, "And who's that?" She gestured to the little waving stickman.

He smiled, "The Commissioner. He's my new best friend." The smile grew.

"Really?"

He nodded enthusiastically.

"Ok…" She wrote something down on a notepad she picked up off the desk. "What about that one?"

"That's Harvey Dent, silly!"

"Uh, why does he only have half a face?" She was trying to hide her shock.

"Well, that was an accident, woops. I think he must of fell off his chair before the Bat got him. He really should of sat still, that was what the rope was for. But I think that's enough about Dent, I hear it's still a hard topic to talk about." He licked his lips and leaned back on the chair so that it was balancing on two legs.

He didn't wait for Dr. Skuld to point out another picture. "And that's when I told Bat where Dent and… That other person was. Where we first met… Properly."

She merely nodded, "The last one?"

"I thought it was funny." He said looking at himself killing the Batman; of course he would never do it in reality, where would the fun be in that?

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><p><strong>Keeping in character is soo hard :( I hope it's Ok.<strong>

**Sorry about Crane not being in it yet. But you should know by now that it takes me forever to actually right something important. XD See how long it took me to get Joker in Arkham? XD**

**Review please!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey guys! This chapter was a result of bad internet connection, also known as boredom XD.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Batman.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>"I think that will be all today, Joker." She said looking over her notes.<p>

"But what will I do for the rest of the day? You can't leave a clown in a box. I'll get bored."

"I'll see what I can do."

She pressed a button on her desk then the door opened and the two guards came in.

"Ooh, fancy." The Joker said, inspecting the device over the desk. His last doctor didn't have one of those, how long had he been away from Arkham? 'Not long enough.'

He stood up, knocking the chair backwards, and made his way over to the guards; catching a glimpse of the dirty look that was briefly on his doctor's face. Might as well make the fun last.

He was escorted back to his cell, pushed in the room like always and the door shut behind him. Except there was something different, he looked around, at the floor, the ceiling, his bed, the walls… The walls…

"Nooo! What sort of monsters are you?!" His paintings were gone, the wall looked all sparkly and clean and so utterly boring. Behind him, he heard the metal latch on the door opened. He saw half the face of his guard in the small square.

"Why? Why did you do it?!" The Joker said, stomping to the door and leaning close to the little square.

"It's the cleaner's job. Here." He pushed a tray through the gap.

The Joker looked at it with his head tilted, "What is it?" When he got no answer he looked up, finding the guard gone, "Rude much?"

He picked the tray off the little platform and sat on the floor, where he placed it in front of him.

There was a bowl. Filled with what? He didn't know. It was filled with some sort of mushy, cream coloured substance. It also looked watered down. The Joker shivered, 'They really giving this to people to eat? It doesn't even look edible.' He wasn't expecting a reply, but he got one.

**'I am not eating that.'**

''S good we agree on something.' He thought as he pushed the tray away from him. 'But I'm hungry. I haven't eaten in ages…'

He didn't get a response. And he was slowly getting more bored by the second. He wouldn't even mind an insult from the monster in his head, anything to make this a tad more exciting.

'…Hey?'

Great, now he just felt stupid. What if he was just imagining the voice in his head? Imagine what the doctors would say if they found out. If he was real, then why hasn't he popped up in any of the sessions he had?

'Hellooo?'

**'… Are you talking to me?'**

'Well yeah, unless there are other people up there I need to know about.'

A sharp pain hit in waves inside his head, **'You should learn to show respect to me. I'm in control here, not you.'**

"Ow ow ow, stop!" The pain dulled but didn't stop completely. "Who do you think you are?! I am the only one who is in control of my own body! Not some creature that doesn't have its own."

The thing growled, low and deep, **'Oh really?'**

The pain increased ten-fold, the Joker almost screamed at the rapid increase. His vision began to turn black around the edges and blur everywhere else.

It became very difficult to breath, like his airways were somehow constricting on its own.

He fell from his sitting position onto his back and began clawing at the floor. His whole body struggling to do something but only achieved in spasms in an attempt to get much needed air. Burning started to spread through his chest, which would have been normal considering no oxygen could get to his lungs, but to his horror, blood splattered against the grey floor at every little cough he made. His lungs were being crushed, contracting similar to what was happening to his windpipe, like a constrictor snake wrapped around the very organs that made breathing possible.

The heavy thumping in his head was unbearable, unexpected tears leaked from his eyes following gravity to the sides of his head, just like the blood running from his nose. The liquid life running down his face, leaving crimson trails that narrowly missed his scars.

He tried to tell it to stop but the only noise he could make was small whimpering sounds or chocking coughs. Even thinking was impossible right now. The beast wouldn't listen anyway; he could here it laughing in the background, beyond the pain.

Black spots danced in his vision before it consumed all of his sight, he was left with nothing but the darkness, silence and slowly numbing pain.

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><p><em>Beep… Beep… Beep.<em>

The continuous, high pitched sound delved its way through his skull, waking him from his forced slumber. He tried to ignore it, to get the sleep his body needed, what the Joker usually refused to give. But the obnoxious noise seemed to never end, so he decided to stay awake but he didn't open his eyes, he didn't have that much strength yet.

Firstly, he tried counting the annoying _beep_s; he got to twenty five before he got bored.

Then he tried to move his arms to get this thing that was on his face, but that also failed.

The Joker was just about to open his eyes when he heard a door open and two voices approach him.

"What did you say happened?" Said one voice. It was a female and the Joker could recognise her as Dr. Skuld.

"He had some sort of seizer, I guess." The second said.

"I guess? You're a doctor, you're meant to know."

"It's the closest thing that I can compare it to. He was unconscious when we got there and he hasn't woken since, so we can't ask him."

'How long have I been out?' The Joker thought, trying no to let his curiosity show.

"He wouldn't give you a straight answer anyway." Dr. Skuld said with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

The Joker almost laughed at that. They're just not asking the right questions and he did love playing games.

The medical doctor changed the subject, "He is lucky to be alive."

She just hummed. "What are the injuries?"

"Oh, here."

The Joker heared a rustle of paper, then more silence. 'Why couldn't she read it out? I wanna know too.' He sighed inwardly, 'I don't want to wake up yet.'

"How strange."

"Yes, I've never seen anything like it." The medic almost sounded excited. "Did you notice anything wrong with him?"

"Huh? How could I have known anything?"

"I heard you had a session with him that morning."

"Oh, yes. Nothing out of the ordinary, he was his normal self."

The doctor let out a weak chuckle. "I suppose without the Joker you got a little free time, right?"

"Not really, I was given another patient until the Joker was able to go to the sessions."

'She sounds irritated… that's new.'

She continued, "But only two sessions with that clown left me with a migraine. A week without him has been good."

'A week!' The Joker chocked on the air that tried to get through his windpipe, leaving him in a fit of coughs that stung like someone stuffed his throat with small knives.

He felt hands grasp around his shoulders so that he couldn't move, the faraway _beep_ing hastened, making the whole situation seem like it had a timer. The thing on his face was not helping, with one jerk of his arm; he dislodged the hands on his shoulder and grabbed the offending item. He brought himself into a sitting position, clutching at his chest. With a couple more coughs he finally calmed down, leaving him gasping for breath, which still hurt. The air going down his throat burned like fire, and his lungs felt heavy and tight.

He stared at the white sheets but not really looking at them, he was only concentrating on breathing, until he saw little red spots standing out. He looked at the object in his hand, which now he can identify as an oxygen mask, and saw the same little red spots sitting on the plastic. The Joker felt and tasted blood in his mouth and throat.

He slowly looked up, the doctor held up a plastic cup filled with water. He looked him in the eyes then to the cup, then back to the doctor, "That better have painkillers in it." He was surprised when his voice came out as an almost whisper and not as intimidating as he wanted it… He sounded weak, and he hated it.

Grabbing the cup, he downed it in two big gulps, the water soothing the pain as it went down.

"Sorry, but you're already hooked up." The doctor gestured to the multiple bags hanging on hooks next to the bed. The Joker followed the tubes, he place the mask down and lifted his hand up. The tubes followed. The clip on his finger lead to a heart monitor, 'Oh, so that's what that sound was…'

No one said anything; Dr. Skuld just turned and left. The doctor just gave the Joker more water and bravely instructed to put the mask back on, then left himself.

The Joker sat there, water in hand, think about what happed.

It was the beast, he did it. The Joker knew. But no one would believe him, not ever. Well maybe one…

He had to find a way to Crane; this was partly his fault anyway. If he wasn't stuck in here, he wouldn't of needed to come back to Arkham to get him.

But how was he going to get out of the infirmary? He wasn't even sure if he could walk and breathe at the same time. And he didn't even know where Crane was.

He'll just have to wait until breakfast tomorrow, and sneak out then… One problem, where was the hall?

'Dammit Crane! Why do you cause trouble when you're not even here!?'

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><p><strong>So.. Yeah, I dunno what happened. Crane was meant to be in this chapter but then my brain decided it wanted to almost kill the Joker... XD the other Joker reminds me of Loki a bit in this... Just saying... One or two lines...<strong>

**Sorry for the lack of Crane, I'll get there eventually.**

**If there are any mistakes, OOCness or other things, tell me so I can make the next chapter better. Note: I did this late at night so, yeah...**

**Reviews are great! XD**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey! So, I learned a lot about my readers from the last chapter via reviews, who knew that many people liked seeing the Joker get hurt, huh? XD**

**Anyway, I tried to resume that... Evilness that was in the last... yeah, just a little warning uh, I dunno, flesh-eating? Yeah... Sorry :/ Maybe a little over the top...**

**It flowed, blame my brain again, it was 11 at night and I have no control over it...**

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><p>He must of fell asleep again, when he woke up it was dark, except for the light outside his door peering in through the glass. He stared up at the ceiling, not feeling up to moving, his throat still hurt and his lungs burned every time he breathed. Other than the he was fine… Until his arm and leg wounds started itching. He groaned in frustration. He moved his hand that was attached to the wires over to his itchy one, only to find it covered in new bandages.<p>

"Whyyy?" The Joker said, muffled by the gas mask. He looked down at it, so his eyes were almost crossed. He didn't put that back on, 'Why do they think I need their help?' he thought, grabbing the mask once again and throwing it away from him.

Then he realised the mistake he made, he willed the creature in his head not to talk, he might not survive the next attack he makes. He was almost jealous on how well Crane and Spooky got along, sure they had their little arguments, but Spooky didn't try and kill Crane.

His full-on tried to murder him.

**'Not kill you, put you in your place. Killing comes later.'**

'Great, is that something to look forward to?'

He didn't get an answer. He flinched; he should really watch his mouth, or thoughts.

**'You really need to be more careful of what you say.'** He said after a while.

The pain wasn't like the normal headaches he had; it was like something was being ripped open, slowly, thread by thread, it was agonising, he could practically feel it happening.

Something warm slid down over his temple and down his cheek, after the pain calmed, he brought his hand up to wipe it off. Blood, obviously. He was getting sick of seeing the colour red. Up further, he found his new injury. Well sort of, it was the cut when he hit his head after that building blew up. He was too busy fixing his arm to even think about that one. That must have been the cut where the sadist came from.

**'You just don't get it do you?'**

The Joker braced himself, excepting to feel more pain in any one of his already vulnerable cuts or organs but instead it was a full body attack. Like a giant cramp everyway.

'What are you, urgh, doing?'

He got no answer, which wasn't good.

The Joker felt his leg move, making its way off the bed. With clenched teeth, he tried to fight back, with no prevail. His arms began to push himself off the bed, with every inch he got away from the bed, the fainter he became. As soon as he was on his feet, everything was black again.

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><p>The 'Joker' stretched up, allowing the vertebrae in his spine to click. Opening his eyes, he revealed the blood red irises that created nightmares. He smirked as he walked towards the door; it was really quite pitiful at how little strength he needed to use to take control.<p>

Opening the door, he peeked around to see if there was anyone around. Once he was sure there was no one, he slipped out and began to walk down the corridor, none of the Joker's injuries bothering him.

He strolled down the twists and turns of hallways, he was sure they had security cameras hidden somewhere on the walls but he didn't care, he wouldn't be the one to deal with the consequences. That thought made the grin grow on his face.

As he turned the next corner he saw an Arkham officer walking up the white corridor. He quickly hid behind the wall he just turned, 'must be on patrol, Can't say he's doing a good job.'

How long had it been since he had a proper meal? Well, he had one now. He licked his lips in anticipation and hunger. The clown never fed himself anyway.

Slowly, he crept down the hallway, steadily shortening the distance. When he got close enough, he grabbed the guard by his hair and slammed his head into the wall and watched the body crumple to the floor. He looked up at him dazed.

**'Oh well, I'll only have to keep him quiet.'**

He pushed the sleeve down and gripped the forearm and put his foot on the bicep and pulled. The beast disguised as human grinned as he felt the arm becoming looser, gradually dislocating from the elbow joint, the flesh stretching until it ripped, exposing the muscle and allowing blood to pour out all over the mans uniform and the floor. The smell made the 'Joker' more and more hungry.

The man on the floor screamed and struggled to get out of his grip but with no luck. The 'Joker' kicked him in the head the replaced his foot back on his arm in the blink of an eye, making his nose bleed.

Unbeknownst to him, he was just about to become dinner.

The arm was dislodged with a snap and the guard cried in pain, the monster unwrapped it from its fabric confines, grinning at him. Without waiting a second longer he took a bite out of the fleshy snack, using his sharp teeth to get a reasonable chunk out of it, the razor-like texture easily slicing through.

The still warm blood sliding down his throat as he chewed. His mouth working to grind down the meat until it was small enough to swallow. He went in once more; some of the blood missed his mouth and dribbled down his chin, onto his Arkham jumpsuit.

He kept at it for a few minuets, finishing with the arm, which was now bone, and starting with the rest of his dinner on the floor which was now unconscious, out of shock or blood loss, he didn't know or care.

He heard a little noise behind him. He looked, turning his head to the side.

He saw to very blue eyes peering through the little gap in the door behind silver rimmed glasses. He grinned, showing his probably bloodied, sharp teeth, knowing whose eyes they belonged to. The impossibly pale eyes widened and disappeared from sight.

He picked the keys from the guard's belt and stood up from his crouched position to walk to the door. While he unlocked it, he vaguely wondered why there were so few guards out at night in an asylum for the criminally insane but as he pushed the door open he soon forgot.

He saw the former doctor standing in the middle of the room, like he was expecting a late night visit. His bright eyes flickered to the carcass behind the 'Joker' then back again.

"Joker, what is wrong with you? I knew your case was bad, but not this bad."

The beast grinned, ignoring the man's question, **"So you're Jonathan Crane. Yes, the former doctor who decided to play with fear."**

Crane looked quizzical and slightly angry at the last bit, "Joker… You know who I am. We first met in here, remember?"

The monster chuckled, he knew that Crane didn't trust him at the moment; he knows something is wrong and he can't let him tell anyone, **"Enough. You know something's… Off, don't you? Well can't let you spill all the secrets, can we?"**

Crane didn't say anything, a million thoughts and questions going through his head, not being able to focus on one.

The 'Joker' pushed the door closed. Cranes eyes widened and started to back up when the other started moving forward.

"If you are what I think you are, then the Joker's got to be in there somewhere."

**"You can wish."**

Crane's back hit the wall, dead end.

**"Are you scared?"** He mocked, stopping a couple of feet before him.

Blue eyes narrowed, "Not of you." This was probably the worst case of schizophrenia he had seen, who knew the Joker was a victim of it. And by the looks of it, they don't get along.

The creature couldn't help but smile, tomorrow was going to be a good day, who knew what the Joker's reaction will be when he finds out what happened to his 'best friend'.

**"You will be."**

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><p><strong>Looky Crane! :O I'm sorry for doing that to you, it's a horrible cliffhanger but that's all I got written XD<strong>

**I dunno if that is what Crane is like, but he wasn't really talking to the Joker was he? That's my excuse.**

**And I'm really not sure if it's schizophrenia, it's the first thing that came into my head. If it isn't tell me and I'll change it.**

**And for L, Yeah, Bruce, probably as Batman, is going to find out. It was my whole inspiration for this story, it'll just take some time.**

**Review or I might kill Crane... Aww that's mean, but reviews keep me writing and I don't have to save him (I felt like Batman then... creepy.) XD**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello people! So sorry for being (really, very) late, my computer broke. :( But luckly FanFiction had my story, so i didn't have to right it all over again. So THANK YOU FANFICTION! XD (I'm using my mum's work laptop XD)**

**I wanted this one to be long for you guys for being so patient. And for the reviews and follows/faves.**

**I don't own Batman.**

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><p>Batman sat, crouched on the ledge of some building located near the centre of the city. There hadn't been much crime that night; it had been somewhat quiet, almost unnaturally.<p>

So instead he used this spare time to think about everything that happened.

Gordon had decided to tell him what he had found out about the Joker, it sparked some curiosity in him. He had thought it couldn't be a trick, the Joker wasn't _that _good. And if the Commissioner thought he was genuine about everything, then who was he to disagree? He trusts the Commissioner with the same amount he gives Alfred. He was glad that he had sent him to Arkham, at least now he would be out of the way and not a danger to anyone. But it's the fact that he went so easily that unnerved him.

He quickly stood up and turned around, thinking someone was behind him. But saw nothing, the Batman jumped down from the building to the street below, not feeling comfortable with the eerie atmosphere.

He began walking, making his way towards his penthouse. When suddenly a dark shadow appeared out of the blackness in front of him and clipped him in the jaw. The force blew his head back and he took a couple of steps back to put some distance between him and the offender. The Batman looked towards the darkened alley but saw nothing but the shadowed area in front of him, until a shaded, sinister silhouette appeared out of the dim alley.

The silhouette moved with great speed, landing a punch to the Batman's stomach. The vigilante stumbled back, but used the momentum and spun, sending a kick to the figure; however as his foot made contact, it merely went through him. The figure stood there with a big, smoking gap, where his mid-section should have been. It slowly joined together, rebuilding his body like nothing had happened.

The Batman felt in his gut that this wasn't going to end well for him.

The Batman ran through the streets of Gotham, hoping to lose the trail of the mystery man currently chasing him, the wispy man flowing smoothly around the obstacles, leaving behind a smoky trail, while the Batman jumped and dodged them while his cape flayed behind him.

The ghost-like being was catching up with him, he could hear it, he didn't want to think about what the creature wanted once he caught up.

He needed a miracle.

The sound of speeding cars vaguely registered in his head as he ran towards the nearest highway. He barley noticed when he sprinted across the road. He was pulled to the ground by his cape, rolling underneath a passing lorry, now blaring its horn. When it passed the smoke creature materialised in front of him, standing tall and menacing.

The dark figure crouched down to his level; the shadow man leant in close, so the Batman could hear him over the highway traffic.

"Keep out of business that doesn't include you," The ghastly man said in an echoing voice, "your time will come. Take this as your only warning." And with that he walked backwards into the traffic and disappeared in a puff of smoke as he was hit by a car, which halted to a stop.

The Batman swiftly stood up and moved out of the way of the road, into the darkness, making his careful way back home.

He didn't sleep that well that night; Bruce woke up almost every hour since he got home. Alfred wasn't awake this time and he just silently made his way to his room, got out of the Kevlar, with some difficulty, dressed in some pyjama pants and practically fell on his double bed hoping for some well needed rest.

But obviously, someone didn't think he deserve it. Sometimes he woke from a nightmare, in shock and drenched in sweat, others he awoke, slowly opening his eyes, from nothing at all.

Eventually, he gave up and got himself a coffee, knowing he will need it for the rest of the day. After his third, he decided he would just sleep in the meeting again, as he walked passed Alfred, giving him a nod, and went to get ready for whatever he was going to do today. His mind only focused on what happened the night before.

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><p>The Joker came round with a horrible taste in his mouth. Swallowing was like doing so with fibreglass in his mouth and throat. He opened his eyes but only saw bright light, he shut them again, feeling the light burning his eyes and giving a headache. But he was used to that by now, ever since that first building exploded, he has had a non-stop headache. So he tried again, opening his eyes, his vision cleared up and a ceiling he recognised came into view.<p>

He groaned and rolled his aching eyes, he was still in the hospital bay. How long had he been here now? The doctor said a week, ok, so eight days. But he didn't remember going back to sleep. That made his heart pick up again. He did remember now, his little conversation with his evil brain voice.

He lifted his hand to his face and pulled the oxygen mask that was not really helping him at all.

He sighed and sat up, rubbing his eyes gently, silently wondering what he had done.

The Joker shakily got up from the bed, which was slightly more comfortable than the cell ones, and made his way towards the door. He got halfway in five minuets, until something tugging at his wrists stopped him; he looked and saw the thin tubes attached to his arms. He growled and ripped them out then continued his way over to the door. He felt horrible and weak and he didn't like it, the thing in his was making his life hell, he had done a lot of bad things but he didn't think he deserved this.

He grabbed the door handle and pushed it down. Locked.

He grunted and leaned against the door, sliding down it until he sat on the floor.

Speaking of which, he wondered why the monster hadn't said anything yet, he would usually taunt him about how it took him, like, ten minutes to get to the door. His brain had the stupid idea of thinking the beast left, gone forever and let him live in his own world of chaos. The Joker laughed at the idea of being safe form that thing, he knew it wasn't done with him yet, whatever it wanted, it hadn't finished.

The door behind him clicked behind him as it unlocked, he scooted out of the way, so he didn't get hit.

As the door opened, the person paused halfway walking into the room.

"Joker?" He said, softly.

The clown opened his mouth to talk but the way his throat burned; he didn't think he could, so instead, he just kicked the door behind the doctor.

Startled, the medic jumped and looked behind him, seeing nothing his gaze fell to the floor where his patient sat.

"Good morning."

The Joker just narrowed his eyes and tried to stand up. The doctor saw him struggling but didn't do anything; he knew how the Joker hated getting help from any Arkham employees. He was rather surprised how the Joker got there in the first place.

After a few more minutes of the Joker struggling and the doctor making mental notes, they finally reached the bed, and the Joker plopped himself onto it, bouncing slightly.

"How are you felling Joker?" He said, picking up the tubes and placed it on the hooks.

The Joker ignored the question, and spied a jug water on the small table next to the bed, he grabbed it and drank straight from it.

"What happened?" The Joker said with a rough, shaky, weak voice. He used his sleeve to wipe of the water off his mouth and chin.

The doctor sighed, "I don't think-"

"I don't care what you think. What happened?" The Joker growled out.

The doctor flinched. Hurriedly thinking of what to say, but the Joker didn't miss the hesitation and lashed out, "What did he do!?"

The doctor looked taken back from the statement.

"I do… What did I do?" The Joker said softly, noticing his mistake.

The doctor stood up and backed away from the Joker, "Well, I see that you're feeling better, I'll send someone here to put those back in." he pointed to the tubes.

"You can't just leave, tell me!" He tried to shout but his voice broke and resulted in an aggressive whisper.

"Get some rest." And then he left, locking the door behind him.

He was frustrated and needed something to kick, but the Joker only crossed his arms and grunted.

**'Well, aren't you in for a ****_pleasant_**** surprise?'**

The Joker jolted in shock.

"What do you mean?" The Joker had given up on not speaking aloud; he ends up doing it anyway.

The beast merely chuckled; the Joker figured he was proud or very happy about something, which could only mean bad news.

"What did you do?" The Joker demanded.

In the distance, the door clicked unlocked and opened slightly.

The creature laughed again, **'I took a little trip to find food, better food than what this place gives us. This place is full of ****_fresh _****meat.'**

The Joker shuddered, catching on with his meaning, so that was what the taste in his mouth was. "Get to the point, that's not all that you did."

The new nurse walked up to the bed.

**'I met someone quite important to you that night.'**

The Joker jumped up off the bed, startling the nurse, and yanked open the door, speeding down the hallway. He ignored the burning in his chest, the sharp pain in his throat and the fiery ache in his limbs. He searched the doors peaking inside part of him hoping he'll be in one, the other half he won't.

He heard shouting behind him, but he barley noticed.

He raced upstairs, skipping a step as he went. He didn't care about the air scratching at his throat.

He checked every one of the doors on that floor, still avoiding the doctors and Arkham workers, until he got to the last one, he opened the door but some person grabbed him from the behind. The Joker began struggling however he stopped when he saw the very pale, brown haired patient on the bed.

Even the employee who grabbed him stopped dragging away when he saw the shocked look on the clowns face.

The Joker was stuck, frozen to his place. He couldn't of done that to his doctor, he didn't even see him, he was in here in Arkham because of him. If Crane couldn't speak then how was the Joker going to get answers?

The Joker escaped the grip of the employee and walked towards the bed.

The humongous gash on his face was the first thing you saw, it was joined together by the teeth of stitches and run from his temple to just below his mouth. There were bandages over his arms, some specked with red.

"Bite marks." One brave doctor said.

The Joker only nodded, he knew that. He knew he did that.

Crane was breathing shallowly; sweat coated his face and arms.

The Joker knew that there was a whole lot more wrong with him that he couldn't see. And something happened to him that hasn't happened to him in years; he felt a horrible pang of guilt in his chest. He needed to get away from here, from Crane. When he was better, when he found something to get rid of this monster in his head, that's when he'll come back and maybe apologise.

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><p><strong>So it's not as action packed as the others but yeah...<strong>

**I wanna thank writer's legend and L (and me ages ago) for this idea, (if you can see it. Should be obvious) but yeah just a warning I know next to nothing about what I'm writing about XD Absolutily no knowledge at all.**

**See you next chap! **


	20. Chapter 20

**Hello again, I know I just put a Chapter up, but I probably won't have the laptop until next weekend and i decided that if this was going to be regular (me having the laptop at weekends) then I thought I would try (try being the keyword here XD) and post one then. And concidering I don't want to wait to post this one next week, I thought I would do it now...**

**So enjoy!**

**I own nothing.**

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><p>Everything seemed so far away now, so unreal. This could not be happening, this can't have happened… He didn't mean it.<p>

He could here the horrid laughter of the fiend in his head in the background. The Joker couldn't understand what that thing accomplished from this besides from getting an extra snack. He regretted not eating that awful food that Arkham had giving, he regretted having back chatted to that beast and having such a big mouth and not being able to keep it shut.

But he was not going to back down from this, he couldn't. It was against his nature.

He felt something grip at his arm and tug, and he flipped out. He put all of his power in punching this guy in the face, feeling the bone crack underneath his hand. He quickly looked around for a weapon he could use as the Arkham employees retaliated. He couldn't find anything, so when the next hand came to grab him, he used the only thing he had, his teeth. The Joker tasted the burst of metallic flavour as the skin broke and the blood poured out. He wanted to spit it out but the beast made it swallow, its not like he hadn't tasted blood before, of course he had, just not someone else's. Not on his own will.

The man he bit screamed and tried to yank his hand away, but the Joker let go and wrapped his hand around his mouth.

"Shh shh shh, you're gonna wake Crane. He needs sleep to get better." He said, not being able to keep the excitement out of his voice, he hadn't felt this good since that time in the flower shop.

Another person tried to pull him of the guy he was holding with a sharp jerk on his shoulder. As he turned, he twisted the guard's neck with him; he heard the guy's neck snap as he took out the man's legs behind him. He jumped over the body and made his away to the exit.

He jumped down the stairs and ran along the hallways, dodging men and women as we went.

"If you're going to do anything useful for me, now's the time." The Joker said, spotting men with guns.

**"I think you are doing just fine on your own." **

The Joker groaned, "Thanks…"

He spotted something ahead; a little phenomenon that he thought had no use as of now. The Joker punched it as he went past. The alarms went off and water rained down from the sprinklers.

'There. That should be a good enough distraction. The place needed a clean anyway.' He thought, smugly.

There were loud, agonised screams throughout of Arkham from the less-than-sane inmates.

Arkham employees scrambled around to stop the alarms and calm down the inmates, seemingly having of forgotten the runaway clown.

Suddenly, he skidded to a halt.

'Ah! My clothes!' He looked down at his bright orange jumpsuit, 'No way am I leaving looking like this.'

**'Can you not concentrate on one thing?'**

'This is important. It's my look! It defines me.'

The creature didn't respond, so the Joker started running towards the lovely Dr. Skuld's room, hopefully his clothes were there and she wasn't.

Since the alarms were turned off and everything calmed down, except that everyone was still looking for him, he resulted in sneaking down abandoned hallways and hiding in the shadows. Soon enough he reached his destination.

He opened the door quietly, searching the room for the doctor. She wasn't in there. He snuck in and rummaged around, opened the draws and cupboards, the filing cabinets (sating his curiosity) but he couldn't find anything.

He huffed in annoyance and stood on his tip-toes, looking around the room. He saw a flash of purple and blue on top of the bookshelf, he grinned as he reached up. He stepped up on the second ledge to get a boost up and picked up his clothes, just as he thought he was going to get in and out of there without making any noise, he elbowed a box that was also on the shelf.

It hit the floor with a thump and clatter, the Joker cringed and looked at the door, when no one came in he hopped of the shelf and inspected the cardboard box.

It looked quite interesting to him so he picked it up and put it one the desk as he quickly changed.

Feeling happy and refreshed, he stuffed the Arkham clothing in the box, and picked it up.

He smiled and turned to open the door, and nearly walked into Dr. Skuld.

"Oh, uh, hi."

"Going somewhere?" She said, with her arms crossed.

'I would hate to be her son.' "Back to my cell- uh – room."

Dr. Skuld looked unconvinced, and then she spotted the box. Her eyes widened, "Put that back." She demanded.

The Joker smirked and backed away, his eyes darted back and forth seeking an escape.

**'Over there. The window, you blind idiot.'**

The Joker paused for a moment, trying to decipher the tone in the beast's voice. But soon shook it off as the doctor stepped forward, he gave Dr. Skuld one last victorious smile then threw the box out of the open window.

"No!" She screamed.

He laughed and followed the box, climbing down the wall. His arm and leg injuries ached a bit as they held up his body.

He's never escaped in broad daylight before, and he quite liked the challenge. He jumped off the wall, just above the last window and landed in the bushes.

He heard the sirens beyond the giant wall barrier and orders being shouted out.

The Joker growled at them, picked up the box and ran around the back of the building, crouched down, hidden by the shrubs.

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><p>Bruce sat on his couch, leaning his head on one hand while the other was holding another cup of coffee.<p>

As it turned out, he did sleep in the meeting and then made a fool of himself when he nearly fell off the chair as he jolted awake.

Lucius had told him to go home and rest, but rest ended up as god knows how many cups of coffee. And what made him feel worse were the worried glances he got from Alfred, he had seen the dark circles under his eyes but really, who could miss them? He just couldn't get that creature out of his head, or the problem with the Joker. He just had to make sense of it. Some part of his brain told him he was just crazy and the 'man' he saw wasn't real. The other part wouldn't believe that, everything had a logical answer.

He looked up at the muted TV, on the news channel. He couldn't make sense of the women's moving lips but the subheading told him everything.

_'BREAKING NEWS. Joker escapes from Arkham.'_

Bruce groaned, 'How could they lose him already?'

"Master Bruce?"

The millionaire turned to see his butler standing in the doorway, old eyes fixed on the TV.

"I have to go after him." Bruce told him, looking regretful.

"You need to stay here and rest, the police will take care of him, he is not your responsibility."

"The police have never successfully caught him, he won't let them, he's only playing them." He argued.

"You need to do what's right-"

"Leaving him out there in this city is right!?"

"For you… You cannot do this forever; I'm not sure how long you have left." Alfred looked almost as tired as he did, guilt struck him.

Bruce shook his head, he hated scaring Alfred like this, it did nothing for his old friend. But this needed figuring out; this is something he couldn't ignore, someone threatened him and that someone shouldn't exist. It was not possible.

He decided he would try to get some sleep, letting the sun set, before he went out as Batman.

Bruce placed the empty cup down and stood, he made his way towards his bedroom, keeping his head low. He couldn't bear to look Alfred in the eye.

He woke with a gasp, sweat shined on his skin from the moon light peering in from the open window. He shivered as he looked at the clock beside his bed.

9:30.

He quickly got up from his bed, kicking off the covers. Bruce made his way to get the suit.

Alfred would have been pleased he had slept so long, but the truth wasn't so good. The truth was that he _couldn't _wake up, he tried over and over but something stopped him from waking up from his dream world. He didn't want to think about it.

That smoky figure kept on sneaking into his thoughts; the warning was glued into the front of his brain.

The pieces of his alter ego started to build around his skin as he put on the suit. The cape flowed around him as he grappled onto a nearby roof; his mind immediately went back to when the dark figure grabbed him. He got rid of the memory as he shook his head, and he began his search for the Joker. Silently hoping that things won't repeat themselves from last night.

Things were soundless once again; this unsettled the Batman to no end. He kept on looking behind him, thinking he saw a shadow or heard a noise behind him.

The Batman considered searching for the group of clowns again, to see if the Joker had found them and stayed. A loud crash and a cut off shout caught his attention; he was almost relieved when he heard something happening, but raced towards the attack site.

Up on the roof, Batman looked down at the scene. He couldn't believe it. It was the smoke figure, and he had the Joker pinned up against the wall. The Batman didn't hesitate and he jumped down to the street below, landing beside the two and wrenched the clown away from the shadow, knowing he can't touch him. The Joker moved behind the vigilante and the shadow looked over at the Batman.

"I warned you." The figure said, disappearing and reappearing in the blink of an eye. He swung the rusted metal pipe at his head.

Behind him, the Joker lunged forward and pushed the Bat out if the way, then took a shot at the shadow, hitting him square in the face. The shadow stumbled back and clutched his jaw.

"I see you've made your choice then. Heh, good luck with that." The man hissed out.

Before anyone could speak, he ran into the shadows, instantly vanishing.

The Batman looked over at the clown, he was quite shocked, he didn't have the make up on, and his hair was not that ghastly green, he almost looked normal. Almost.

Blood slid down from his nose; he had a split lip and the beginnings of a black eye. He also had a slight dazed look in his eyes, like he was having trouble staying in the real world. The Joker's face scrunched up in pain and, breathing heavily, he slid down the wall, clutching his head.

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><p><strong>So yeah, I was told you wanted Batman, there you go. :D<strong>

**Kinda rushed maybe... I dunno.**

**And I dunno why I'm making Bruce and Alfred so distant, meh.**

**Oh well, hoped you like it. Reviews are great, see you next chapter!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hello! Ignore that I am 2 days late please, it's the half term and weekends and week days are all the same to me.**

**I own nothing you recognise**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Batman watched as the Joker hopelessly coughed up blood onto the grimy floor, he gripped his nose and he heard a snap as the clown put it back into place, he didn't even flinch. The vigilante was still trying to comprehend what happened, what was the man? How could his attacks go right through him while the Joker hit his target?<p>

The Joker was looking up at him, blinking as he turned his attention from him to the wall. His nose began bleeding again, and he could swear he could see the scarred man's eyes water.

He rubbed his nose and mumbled something that the Batman couldn't hear. Then his eyes became clearer and he focused on the dark knight again.

"Hey Bats." He said with a pained voice.

"What is going on?" He said, looking over to the dark path in front of him.

The Joker shrugged and pushed himself off the floor, "Your guess is as good as mine." He started to dust of his clothes.

The Batman turned to him, "I think you're lying."

"I'm a man of my word." He smiled.

The Batman wanted to carry on questioning him, honestly, he wanted to turn to violence but the Joker hadn't done anything wrong lately, except for escaping from Arkham. He knew he wasn't going to get anywhere with the questions and he was too tired to care, however he knew he had to. His body felt drained and he just wanted everything bad to stop and leave him alone.

"He seemed to know you."

The Batman looked over, questioningly.

"That man, if you could call it that, he knew you. I don't think you've been very truthful to me either." The clown looked smug.

He thought hard about answering, finally, "I think he's been following me." After a few silent minuets Batman spoke, "We shouldn't be out in the open at night."

"Aww, Bats, I think you've been kicked off your own turf."

He ignored him, "I know where we can talk."

"Whoa, wait a moment. Talk?" He suddenly looked excited, "Are we going to the BatCave?!"

Batman walked passed him, out into the street, "Never. Try and keep up." And with that he sprinted down the road.

The Joker casually walked out of the alley, "Ooh, I think I'm it." He grinned, and began chasing the Bat down.

He found himself climbing a fire escape on the side on some random building. He had seen the Bat go inside the window just as he turned the corner, the window of the top floor.

As he crept through the windowpane, he sat on the ledge of it, "Why are we here? You don't live here, do you?"

"No, but some of your clowns stayed here for a while, looks like they're gone now."

The Joker spied a few beer bottles on the table, "Yeah, it was them. Never could clean up after themselves. You never answered my question; why are we here?"

"To talk." He said shortly.

"About the ghost-man? I just met him; he's a bit aggressive, dark, mysterious. Like you! Sure he's not a long lost brother or something?"

"That doesn't make sense."

The Joker jumped down from the windowsill, a wide smile on his face, "Yeah it does, he's sure got the colour right. He's also good at appearing out of nowhere, I'm sure you're related. He's got a good aim too" He nodded, rubbing his nose.

"Don't be stupid. That was the first time you've seen him?"

He nodded again.

"Did he say anything?"

He shook his head.

The Bat gave him a death glare, "Ok, ok. He said I needed to make a choice; apparently saving your life was one. Your turn!"

"He told me I had to keep out of business that I wasn't a part of." The Bat said reluctantly.

The silence stretched on until the Joker broke it with howls of laughter but, with his sore throat and recovering lungs, he ended up coughing and laughing at the same time, seeming unable to stop himself. The Batman clenched his fists, he didn't know why talking to the clown was a good idea, he blamed it on the exhaustion.

He was just about to shut him up by force when he went suddenly quite; the window had slammed shut leaving an eerie iciness in the room.

"That was just the wind, right?" He said with a hoarse voice.

The Batman didn't answer; he scanned the room hoping that nothing else was going to happen tonight.

The Joker rubbed his forehead, the ache rising again. He didn't want to think about what his brain-evil wanted, he wasn't very happy with him earlier. He was lucky he got out with a nose bleed last time.

"I think we should get out of here." He said while he rubbed his throat and making his way to the window. He tried to open it but it refused, "We've got a problem Bats."

The Batman turned away from the door, nodding in confirmation. "Are you sure you told me everything?"

"Uh, I told you everything you asked for."

A quiet, breeze-like cold drafted through the room, the Joker shivered involuntarily. He needed to know what was going on and there was one person who knew.

'Hey, what's going on?'

**'You made your choice.'**

"But that's not fair, I never understood, I don't know what's going on!" He shouted, abruptly breaking the silence almost making himself jump, he peeked up at the Batman, who studied him intently.

**'Oh, don't worry, they won't kill you.'**

"'They'? Who's they?" He completely ignored the Bat now, who was looking, investigating, the room. Both were waiting for something to happen, and Batman was even more confused about the Joker's ramblings to himself.

"Ok, you're telling me that I wasn't asking the right questions. Answer this one, who were you talking to, because it wasn't me." The Batman said.

"That's none of your business-"

"It could be important."

"You would just call me crazy!"

Both of their voices were raised to the point of shouting, after they stopped, the silence grew to the point of deafening.

An echoing chuckle ended the silence from the corner of the room, "You two are very amusing."

Both the Bat and the clown looked towards the noise. The shadow figure stepped out of the darkness, "I honestly wanted it to end in a fight."

"No, no. You're not meant to be here." The Joker shot at him.

"I'm everywhere so I can say that that sentence makes no sense."

"What do you mean?" The Batman asked.

"Every dark room, every shadowed area, these are the places I reside," he chuckled, "I have seen you quite a lot, Batman, and I don't like sharing my home. But that is a conflict we will resolve later, right now…" He turned towards the Joker, "You may have made your choice, but we still want the items. Where are they?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about. And if you're so great and live everywhere, then why cant you find them?"

"The sunlight Joker," The Batman said, "You escaped during the day."

The Joker grinned, "Oh yeah! Don't like daylight, do ya?" He asked, mockingly.

"That soon won't be a problem." The shadow said, sounding irritated. "Well, if you're not going to tell me, then I can get straight to business. It would have been easier, you know, just to tell me."

"How so?" Batman asked.

The shadow chuckled darkly, "We've got someone on the inside." He stared at the Joker, though you couldn't see any features on him, he turned his head towards the clown.

The Joker paled, just at that moment the pounding in his head grew. 'Damn. I should have known they were connected.'

Before he could say anything, the Joker was flung from his feet into the wall behind him. The shadow materialised in front of him and dragged him up the collar.

The Joker saw the Bat trying to open the door from the corner of his eye, 'Clever Bats, looks like I'll have to sort this out on my own.' He braced himself as he was thrown onto the table, the breath was knocked out of him but despite this he rolled off the table, dodging the punch that was aimed for his head. The table broke and collapsed to the floor, the Joker grabbed the wooden leg of and swung it around as he stood up, aiming for the neck.

The Batman, while trying to find and escape route and avoiding the fighting, was still trying to figure out what the shadow meant by 'someone on the inside'. He knew that the Joker wasn't telling him everything, now, if they survived this, he would need to find a way to pry the information out of him.

The Joker was holding back the wooden table leg away from his face; the splinters looked really pointy from his position. He felt his arms become weaker as his headache strengthened, 'Could you give me a break?'

The beast only growled.

'Wow, someone's in a bad mood today.' He smirked but there really was no emotion behind it.

He felt something warm run down his face to his lip, he instinctively licked his lips and tasted blood.

The Joker winced as the shadow pushed harder, he felt his knee's beginning to shake, "Bats, you found an exit yet?"

He didn't get an answer.

"Bats?"

As soon as he took his eyes of the shadow, there was a huge flash and deafening bang. He was dragged away blind, his eyes began watering and then there was a smash and cool air on his face.

He wasn't sure what happened but when his vision returned, he was outside, sitting on a roof, with the Bat standing on the edge of the building.

He rubbed his eyes and hopped up, making his way to the Batman.

"Nice idea Bats, portable light, coulda warned me though. Maybe of used a torch."

The Batman shook his head, "I want to know what connection you have with that… Thing."

"_I _have no connection…" The Joker trailed off. He didn't want to continue, he didn't know how to. He wiped the blood off his lip and stared at the city landscape.

"He wanted something, what was it?" The Batman's voice was monotonous.

The Joker sighed, "I found a box, in Arkham, it was full of weird stuff."

"Weird stuff?" The Batman wished he could be more informative.

The Joker took a quick look behind him, "There was a weird book, I couldn't read it though, the pages were full of symbols…"

"Show me."

The Joker looked up at him, "I know you probably know more than one language but I don't think this counts." Suddenly a thought struck him, "Oh wait, you're the _greatest_ detective, aren't you? Sure." He smiled up at the sky and took a deep breath. "Maybe I'll tell you later." He mumbled.

"What?"

Pain burst through his body, and he started shaking violently, he gripped his head. Everything around him became a blur; he heard a crack and felt something hold his shoulders, shaking them slightly.

'No, no, no, not now.'

"Bats… Run…" The Joker chocked as his airways were closed once again, his vision began to fail him.

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><p><strong>I dunno what I think about this one.<strong>

**... I guess I need your point of view of it... Yes that means reviews! XD**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey people! Just gotta say, this chapter annoyed me so much :( Just sayin'.**

**But hopefully you will enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing Batman-ish.**

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><p><strong>"You have no idea what you have gotten your self into."<strong>

The Batman took a step back once the Joker looked up, 'So this is what the Commissioner was talking about.'

Gordon had told him about the incident in the interrogation room, with the doctor and the massive change in the Joker. It had caught his attention, but no matter how much he thought about it, he just couldn't make sense of it. He did think, at one point, that the Commissioner was just seeing things. The Joker would of attacked any doctor, that's just him. But now he is experiencing it first hand, and he knows this is no joke.

The deep red in the Joker's eyes were very real, they glinted with something horrible, something the Batman couldn't place. The creature that was crouched in front of him sniffed the air, licked his lips and grinned, revealing rows upon rows of sharp, jagged teeth.

The Batman suddenly figured out what the glint in his eye was. Hunger.

The beating in his chest doubled in speed, and realisation clicked in his head, "You attacked those clowns, didn't you?"

The beast chuckled and nodded, **"I can see that you are not like the cops here, you actually use your head." **He stood up and straightened his clothes.

The Batman still kept his distance, "You're not like the Joker, so why did you do it?"

He smiled in satisfaction, **"Honestly? I was curious." **

"About what?" The Batman kept a calm exterior; he didn't dare look weak in this situation.

**"What was inside."** He chuckled, taking a step closer, **"You ****_mortals _****have so many organs that need to be protected, and by what? A thin layer of skin and a weak cage of bones." **He continued to edge closer to the vigilante, **"But what a lovely colour of red, and it is ****_everywhere_****."**

The Batman felt disgusted by the words, "But why?"

**"When you have no body of your own, a slight need for knowledge builds, and I wasn't about to kill my host for that knowledge. But do you know the best bit about you mortals? The taste. The warm, metallic flavour of your blood."** His already thin pupils reduced to narrow slits and his grin became more predatory.

"You don't want him dead?" The Batman tried his hardest to ignore what the conversation turned into.

He chuckled darkly,** "Not yet." **

"Why? Why wait?" There were so many questions he needed answered and he couldn't stop them from escaping. "What are- who are you?"

**"All in good time, ****_Dark Knight_****." **He smirked,** "As for ****_who _****I am, my name is Syn."**

The Batman stood in silence, trying to figure out what this 'Syn' wanted. Why had he appeared now? 'Better now than later. Now I know that the Joker didn't tell me everything. But I can see why he didn't want to.'

Syn slowly, inch by inch, crept closer. Batman never took his eye of him; the predatory look about him didn't set a good feeling in his stomach. It looked like he was planning to attack.

'It must be about this book that the Joker found.' Of course Syn must know where it is and doesn't want the Joker to tell him.

**"Lets just end this now and spare you the guilt of not being about to do anything for this cesspit of a city."**

Syn lunged at him, sending them both sprawling to the floor, dangerously close to the edge of the roof. The Batman quickly grabbed Syn's shoulders, holding him back just before his extremely pointy teeth latched onto his face.

He threw the animalistic creature off him and jumped to his feet. He had to be careful, it was still the Joker and he had the only lead that he could go on.

Syn rolled onto his hands and feet and growled low in his throat, he leapt at him once more and grabbed on to the Batman's arm and sunk his teeth into the black armour, breaking through it like scissors to paper. He broke the skin and blood began to flow from the wound. He smirked as his hair was pulled to dislodge his from his snack and bit down harder. He could practically hear the skin separating from the rest of the body and heard the Bat grunt in pain.

He quickly let go and gripped his arm at the wrist and just below the elbow and pulled in the opposite directions, like he was trying get into a present.

The Batman kicked at Syn's legs, he hit a point, just below the knee, that made the leg weak and collapse. He let out a sound of surprise as he hit the floor, **"Stupid weak-"** He couldn't' finish the sentence as the vigilante kneed him in the face. He fell back and his head smashed onto the hard roof.

His eyes flickered, swirling from red to green, but he blinked numerous times before they remained red. Unhurriedly, he got to his feet, using his hand to wipe the blood off his split lip. He looked the Batman in the eye and grasped his wrist. With one sharp push sideways the bone snapped.

"What are you doing?" The Batman said, alarmed.

**"I know that this human body is very, um… Fragile." **He smiled,** "At the moment. So if I can't beat you, I will break ****_him_****."**

Syn moved up to the undamaged forearm and with his inhuman strength, he twists. The bone splinters into many pieces that stab into the flesh and muscle.

"Stop!" As he stepped forward, Syn moved back.

Syn's hand travelled to his fingers and broke the bones one by one.

He moved further back to the edge of the roof, as his legs hit the little platform he climbed up onto it.

Batman raced forward as soon as Syn stood on the platform. Syn's eyes flashed green again just as the Joker's body fell off the edge.

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><p>Everything slowed to a standstill. The Batman jumped down the building, using his cape to slow his fall, and landed next to the clown's body. He felt a lump form in his throat as he tried to find a pulse. The fall shouldn't of killed him but who knows what else Syn did to him. The Batman's hand didn't even reach the Joker before his whole body tensed up and began gasping for breath. He tried to sit up but he couldn't hold himself up with either of his arms. The Joker groaned, his right arm throbbed painfully. He opened his eyes and stared up at the sky, seeing part of a building in his sight.<p>

"…We were up on that building…" He said.

The Bat nodded and stood up. The Joker seemed fine, only a bit dazed, maybe concussed but he doubted the Joker cared.

The Joker moved his arm again and flinched as a sharp pain jolted up his arm, "What happened?" The Joker pushed himself onto his left arm and inspected his right.

"Syn broke your arm in many different places; I wouldn't move it for a while."

The Joker rolled up the sleeve. His thin arm was bent in horrible angles as well as his fingers, and looked like it was starting to swell.

The Joker huffed, "We don't have time for this, we gotta – Wait… Syn?" he looked up, questioning.

Batman didn't say anything, what could he say?

"Oh, is that his name?"

"You didn't know? He's… In your head."

The Joker made a hand gesture, "He never told me, I never asked." His eyes wandered and he spotted dark crimson dripping out of the suit. His eyes widened, but didn't say anything.

"Can you stand?"

The Joker shrugged and started to find a way up off the floor.

The Batman turned so his back faced the clown, and checked his wound. It was still bleeding pretty badly, he was shocked of how sharp Syn's teeth were, they had cut right through the Kevlar without a problem.

He looked back at the Joker, who was still struggling to get up, using the wall to gain his footing. It seemed that he had a leg injury to add.

'How did he survive that fall?' He saw how weak looking and thin the Joker looked, not anything like they had first met. Then he remembered what Syn had said.

… Was he keeping the Joker alive? If it wasn't for Syn, would the Joker be dead?

The Joker was taking deep, ragged breathes behind him.

"You ready to go then?"

He had his right arm clutched to his torso.

"Go?"

"For the book." He said, leaning on the wall to hold him up as he rubbed his temple.

"What about Syn?" The Batman was uncertain about going; there might be a chance either Syn or the shadow would turn up. And he had no way of stopping them.

"Who cares?! If he didn't want you to see that book he would of killed you, Bats. Come on." He began limping down the street, holding the wall, until he gained confidence and began walking slowly on his own.

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><p><strong>YES! He finally has a name XD Incase you're confused it's pronounced like Sin, just spelt with a 'y'.<strong>

**And I still hate Batman at the moment... Yeah.**

**Reviews please.**

**(L, thanks for your reviews, they help me alot. I will try and add in more murders... [you evil, evil person. XD] Thanks for reminding me though, I have a horrible memory.)**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey guys! Be warned, I wrote the ending of this half asleep, so sorry if it's not good, yeah...**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**So, enjoy!**

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><p>Dawn slowly broke through the darkness of night, lightening the sky to a navy blue. The Joker and Batman were standing at different sides of a massive factory on GothamBay; it seemed to have been abandoned for many years.<p>

The Joker, still a little shaky on his feet, was rummaging through dusty boxes and searching behind the rusted machines.

"You didn't lose it?" the Batman let out a noise that could be counted as a laugh.

"No, I didn't'. I – ow- misplaced it." He stepped back from a box he was leaned over. He let his broken arm hang loosely next to his body, while his other scratched the back of his head.

He rubbed his arm subconsciously and winced slightly when he reached his splintered forearm. Even the slightest touched stung like hell.

"Leave your arm alone." The Batman said, walking to a little office to the side of the room.

The Joker looked at the direction that the Bat was going and his face lit up.

"That's were I left it!" He yelled happily. He half-limped and half-ran towards the door, like he was trying to get there before the Bat did, who, himself paused his walking to look at what the Joker exclaimed about.

The Joker practically jumped at the door and grabbed onto the handle, he pushed to door open and stumbled in.

The Batman resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and followed the clown. He found him sitting on the floor, leaning against the table, cringing with pain before seeing the Bat and pointed to a cardboard box in the corner of the room.

"You shouldn't of ran." He walked over to the box and picked it up and placed it carefully on the table.

"It's not my leg." He said, rubbing his head. He looked up at the Bat picking objects out of the box and putting them on the table.

"Where did you find all this?" The Bat said, holding cross up and turning it.

"This Arkham doctor. Found it when I was escaping." He looked up at the detective doing his work. He got to his feet, almost pulling the table over. The Joker observed the cross and went to take it out of his hand, however, as soon as he touched the wooden symbol his hand was burned with a harsh hiss. He quickly withdrew his hand and waved it around, trying to cool it off.

**'Warned you not to touch it.'**

The Batman looked at him with a confused look, "What was that all about?"

"Shut up." He said, putting his fingers in his mouth, he looked up to see the Bat staring at him. "Not you. I dunno, it just burned."

The Batman nodded and placed the cross down. "Which doctor?"

"Ah, uh…" He removed his fingers and tapped the side of his head, "What's her name? It's on the tip of my tongue. Dr. Skeleto- no, wait. Dr. Sku- Skull… Skuld! Yeah, Dr. Skuld."

"Hmm, strange."

"That's what I said! But don't say that to her face, she don't take it well." He giggled, quietly.

"Noted." He said, simply.

The Bat didn't look like he was going to talk any more so while the Bat was engrossed with the objects, the Joker wandered around the familiar work space. He remembered that this was the place where Syn first made himself known. The pain he felt then… Just thinking about it made him shack involuntarily. Sure, he's felt worse (mostly from Syn later on) but it was nerve-wracking, having your body taken over...

He had attacked his clowns… and ate two of them. He sighed and rubbed his forehead, he looked over at the Bat who seemed to take no notice in him.

He had attacked Crane too; he was shocked to near-paralysis when he saw him. When he thought back he found no reason for doing it except for Syn's own sadism. And he hated him for it. Why doesn't he just leave? Why did he choose him? He didn't want any part of this, maybe he should…? No, he couldn't leave. He wasn't finished with this city yet, and Bat was just too fun. Bats would be nothing without him.

**'You wouldn't' be able to leave even if you wanted to.'**

'Who asked you? I'm thinking, leave me alone.' The Joker rubbed his arm again, he really needed to stop being injured, he felt so tired.

**'Oh sorry, should I just ignore your endless ramblings?'**

'Yes.' The Joker said, annoyed.

He's broken, mangled right arm, suddenly lifted and slammed onto the table with enough force to knock everything on it over.

The Joker yelped and gripped his arm while sinking to the floor.

"Joker?"

The clown made a high-pitched noise of acknowledgment.

"Do you know what Dr. Skuld would want with all this? Did she do or say anything?" The Bat said from over the book.

The Joker took a deep breath, and shook his head in negative, "No, not really. She was a doctor so she only asked questions about me." He stood up shakily, "Only when I was escaping, the box seemed important so I took it. Oh, and Syn helped me escape."

Batman nodded again, and became silent once more.

"Hey Bats! What d'ya think were dealing with?"

"I… I have no idea." He looked up from the book. "I think I need a word with Dr. Skuld."

The Joker chucked, "I think you need to go to bed Bats, it's past your bedtime." He nodded towards the brightening window.

The Batman ignored him and began to put the rather spiritual objects back into the box.

He took a deep breath, "Take it." The Joker said, gesturing to the old, cardboard container.

Batman looked over to him, and saw blood abruptly ooze out of his nose.

"Go, now Bats!"

'He's holding Syn back…' He nodded quickly and left the room with the box, getting out of that room was the best thing for the Joker, he couldn't do anything to help.

Suddenly, he felt an iron-grip on his arm.

**"That's mine."**

'Damn, Syn's got too much control over the Joker.'

He has two choices; run and try to escape Syn or stay and fight were its likely only the Joker would get hurt, unless Syn decides to bite him again. But if he runs, who know what would happen to the Joker.

The grin on Syn's face confirms that he knows what's going through his head, and he wasn't going the decision making easy for him.

* * *

><p>Commissioner Gordon sat at his desk, sipping on his coffee. The news about the Joker's break out didn't surprise him, although keeping Detective Harlow calm proved to be quite difficult.<p>

These new murders were keeping him up at night; they just didn't make any sense. They didn't add up. They had no leads, no suspects (unless you add the Joker and Batman, but Gordon doesn't believe it is them.), and they had no pattern. They were random, completely random. So many people had been caught up in them…

He heard a sharp knock on his door.

"Come in." Gordon called.

A blond, young man opened the door. "Sorry sir, but there has been anoth-"

Gordon cut him off, "Murder?"

"Another building, sir."

The Commissioner sighed, and stood. "Alright, let's go."

Once they got the crime scene, Gordon stopped in his tracks. "What is that?!"

On the ground, surrounded by the wreckage of wood, brick and rubble, was a giant symbol made by fire. Gordon wasn't expecting it, but it was there. It must have been a sick kids' joke.

On the ground, burning with fire was a Pentagram, an Inverted Pentagram.

The Joker suddenly came to mind, with his blood red eyes and sinister smile. Gordon didn't know if they were connected but it seemed right to pair them together.

"It's something evil, Commissioner." One cop said with wide eyes, clutching something on the end on his necklace.

Detective Harlow scoffed, "It's just some gag. There are a lot of troubled kids in this area."

Commissioner Gordon waved his hand, "Just get it put out."

The Commissioner walked over to Harlow, "Did you find anything?"

"No, I haven't had a chance to have a good look yet; once the fire is out I'll check again."

"Alright, report back to me if you find anything, I'm heading back to the Department."

Harlow only nodded and his eyes narrowed, like he was thinking hard.

Gordon had his own mind wondering places, he knew what the detective was thinking but he couldn't believe that the Batman could do it or even the Joker at this point. This was something other worldly, but what could they do to stop it, if it was?

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><p><strong>Hoped you liked it. (Remember, I was half asleep :D)<strong>

**Reveiws are great. I would like some please.**

**(L. Yes, of course, psychopath, I meant that. Once I write a chapter my vocab levels go down XD And why I hate Batman [Or throughly despise] is because he's such a pain to write about. Yeah... I dislike it loads XD. Thanks for your review.)**


	24. Chapter 24

**Greetings! Long time no see. (not my fault- Ok maybe a little bit.) Baaaad case of writers block, it was horrible. Tell you what else was horrible; my dream... Slenderman was in it... So yeah... Anyway, really didn't know what to write for this one, hope it's ok. Also I've changed the name of the story and genre 'cause I thought it was more fitting.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Somehow the press got hold of the information about the Inverted Pentagram. It was all over the News for days. People started panicking, saying things like 'It's the end of the world' or 'Forgive our sins'. But Gotham is full of sins and is the perfect place for something supernatural to happen, if you believe in that sort of thing.<p>

Others just ignored it, continued in their lives of the working class.

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><p>A small group of men wandered through the Narrows, they all had a tired look to them. Walking slow through the grimy streets, ignoring the looks they got from the poor and homeless. They followed the old street lamps, keeping in the light.<p>

The youngest, nicknamed Pipsqueak, trailed behind the group. He walked sluggishly, his feet barely lifting off the floor.

"Why is this happening to us?" He whispered.

"It's gotta be the related to the Boss. It's gotta." Chuckles said, narrowing his eyes at a homeless man who looked like he was going to grab his jacket.

The group, besides JoJo, made a noise in agreement.

"Ever since he went all cannibalistic, weird stuff has happened. I mean, did you see that Pentagram?!" Chuckles continued.

"I think everyone saw the Pentagram, it was all over the news." Bulldog laughed, "You couldn't miss it, everyone panicked."

Pipsqueak started to kick at an empty, drinks can. "You think he's trying to kill us?"

"Pfft, silly question, you saw what he did to Squeaky and Smiley."

JoJo looked across at Chuckles, "It wasn't him-"

"Oh of course, sorry I forgot, it was someone else because he got hit over the head! You know, this isn't the first time he got hit, we all know the _real_ reason why he attacked us." Chuckles glared at Bulldog.

A faint red rose up on his cheeks, "H-hey! You can't blame this on me! It was only a bottle of water; he looked like he needed it."

"Yeah, right. Whatever."

Pipsqueak piped up, "But that thing that attacked us earlier wasn't the Joker, didn't even look like him."

"It didn't look like him because you couldn't see any facial features, it was just a shadow." Bulldog glanced back at the young clown.

Pipsqueak opened his mouth to speak again, but JoJo shushed them. He pointed over to an old man by a bin fire.

"JoJo, I think you're finally losing it." Chuckles said.

JoJo stared up at him, a sort of disbelieved look on his face. "On the floor, next to the man."

They all looked over, and saw a nicely folded bundle of purple.

"His jacket?!" Pipsqueak started to walk towards the man, smiling to JoJo as he passed.

"What do you think you're doing?" Chuckles glared, grabbing Pipsqueaks arm.

"Gonna get his jacket back. What d'ya think?"

Chuckles probably said something else but Pipsqueak just pulled his arm away from Chuckles and greeted the man. He looked frightened as he looked up, but when he saw it was only a boy, his gaze became friendlier.

"Um… Could I have that jacket?" He pointed to his boss' purple coat.

The old man's eyes widened and shook his head.

"Why not?"

The elder didn't reply and his eyes drifted to behind Pipsqueak. The late teen looked behind him. Bulldog and JoJo, were holding on to Chuckles' arms, holding him back.

"Oh… Uh…" Pipsqueak looked towards the man again. The Jacket was shoved into his arms and the man was busying him self with warming his hands.

"Thanks…"

He walked back to the group, scowling at Chuckles. "What did you do that for?"

Chuckles smirked, "You were taking too long."

"I was just a second!"

Chuckles laughed, "Yeah." He turned and began walking down the dirty street.

Pipsqueak sighed and jogged after him, followed by JoJo and Bulldog.

"Where are we going?" The young blond asked, once he caught up.

"How am I meant to know?"

"We need a plan, a simple course of action, just in case." Bulldog suggested. "Unless… We leave."

Everyone's attention locked onto Bulldog.

"We can't leave." JoJo stated.

"Why not? It'll be a lot safer for us." Chuckles joined.

"Well, you could try. But it's not guaranteed that you'll get out alive." An echoing voice spoke up from behind them. They all turned to see a shadow standing just outside the circle of light made from the streetlamp.

Pipsqueak made a high pitched noise and jumped back behind the group. Chuckles growled, "What are you doing here?"

"Watching my entertainment." You couldn't see it, but you could hear the smirk in the shadows voice.

"Yeah, watching. Cause that's all you can do now, ain't it?" He tapped the lightened floor with his foot.

"Chuckles…" JoJo warned.

The shadow shifted his weight and crossed his arms, with his other foot that wasn't carrying his weight, he tapped the light post. Black tendrils climbed the structure, slowly enveloping it, changing the slightly rusted sliver to pitch black, like it was a shadow itself. As soon as it reached the light source, it flickered as if the beam was fighting back. The group looked on was fixated on the sight before them, until the shadow chuckled and disappeared from sight.

Pipsqueak, from behind the group, gulped. The light quickly flickered off and the group were surrounded with darkness. The few people that were around were gone; there was no trace of them.

The shadow materialised in the middle of the group and grabbed Chuckles by the neck.

Bulldog burst out, trying to save Chuckles; or at least divert the shadow's attention. "You think you're so big and powerful but all you do is wonder Gotham, looking for people to mess with. You're just a pawn in a bigger game." As soon as the words left his mouth he know he wasn't going to live through whatever was going to happen next, and by the looks so did the others, but Bulldog still stood tall and defiant. The shadow looked over his shoulder.

"You need to learn to respect your superiors. Luckily for you, I'm here to teach you." He released Chuckles, who gasped and held his throat. The shadow lunged at Bulldog, who stumbled back before both disappearing in a swirl of smoke.

The group was speechless, Chuckles had calmed down. Looking at the spot where Bulldog was.

Something grabbed his shoulder; he turned and saw two blank, brown eyes staring into his.

"Holy…!" Chuckles took a shot and punched the guy, aiming for the face. The man fell back; Chuckles fell into a fighting position.

Pipsqueak picked up some courage; he put on the Jokers jacket and jumped to the side of his team mate, ready to defend his group. JoJo seemed surprisingly calm about the new comers and narrowed his eyes at the offenders.

There were five of the blank-eyed individuals, shouldn't be too hard; they taken on the police and the Bat at times.

Chuckles made the first move, charging the one that already had a bruise forming on his cheekbone. While the two of them fought, Pipsqueak hesitated and looked back at JoJo who was nowhere to be seen… Neither was the two of the creepy looking people.

Pipsqueak saw one of the two left, join fighting Chuckles and he almost sighed in relief, but he never got the chance to. He saw a fist flying at him but ducked in time and made a move backwards. He was never much of a fight so he was really stuck on what to do, then he remembered that he was wearing the Joker's jacket, which hung off his shoulders slightly, he put his hands in one of the pockets searching for anything that could help. He found it when something sharp cut his finger, he lifted out a surprisingly long kitchen knife, and the younger shivered as he saw the dried patches of blood.

As the man charged at him again, he swiped at the man, aiming high as the Joker told him to. He peered from behind his arm that he used to block his head, and saw a pair of very wide eyes and a lot of blood escaping the deep cut in his throat.

Pipsqueak looked over at Chuckles who was smirking over at him, two bodies at his feet. "Nice kid."

JoJo walked out of a backstreet with no signs that a fight ever happened. He had a neutral expression on his face.

Pipsqueak didn't – couldn't – say anything, just wiped the blood off the knife onto the shirt and placed the weapon back into the coat.

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><p><strong>This was my idea of getting rid of writers block, slightly weird but we havent seen these guys in ages so I thought I would bring them back. Or I might of been lazy... Who knows.<strong>

**Oh and, hello new follower! Haven't had one of those in a while XD**

**If you haven't guessed I need reviews for insperation so... Please and thank you.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Hey Guys! So guess what? IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS! Yaaay! (I may say this everypost now XD) **

**Hope you enjoy this one, I sort of cringed myself when I thought of this, but I dunno if I discribed it right... oh well.**

**Read on!**

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><p>Batman raced back to the warehouse, using the roofs as a shortcut. 'Why did I leave?' The thought pulsed through his head. He chose to run, escape from Syn while he could, the monster gave a good chase but he had soon lost him in the many roads in the Narrows; or maybe Syn accepted his choice and changed his target from him to the Joker. Somehow, the thought of the Joker escaped him and he went and Arkham to see Dr. Skuld the next night, although he did have a feeling he'd forgotten something, he didn't dwell on it, it just didn't seem too important to him.<p>

He regretted it now.

He skidded on the soaking street as he jumped down from the roofs and sprinted towards the building.

It was pouring down, he could almost feel it drench through his Kevlar.

He pushed the huge, rusty doors open and ran straight for the little office room, where he thought the Joker would be.

As he got closer to the room, he slowed. The air around the door felt… off. Something was wrong, Batman knew it.

He crept closer, not daring to make a noise, as he gripped the handle it felt like his blood had frozen in his veins. Taking a deep breath, he pushed down on the handle and opened the door.

It creaked open, adding horrible tension to the ambiance. What he saw behind the wooden door made his heart miss a couple of beats.

'No…'

There was blood… Everywhere.

The Joker was sitting against the wall, his head was hung forward making brown-green hair cover his face. Behind him the wall was almost all red, Batman took no notice.

"Joker?" Fear broke out and constricted his chest.

He got no response.

_'Why did I leave?'_

He examined the wall more closely, in the splotches of crimson he could make out words, messily drawn and all in capitals: 'I WARNED YOU.'

Batman felt sick.

He stayed, watching the Joker with disbelief, 'I did that… I could have prevented it, but I left. Why?'

After a while, Batman heard a small noise just loud enough to be heard above the wind and rain.

He listened carefully and slowed his breathing.

It sounded for a second time; he turned to face the Joker. His heart almost stopped again.

The clown's head was rising, showing what damage had been done. He should be dead.

His eyes were gone; blood fell from the dark holes in his face, mirroring what tears were meant to do.

The grotesque mess of his lower jaw made a small gasp emit from the vigilante. The Joker's jaw hung loose against his chest, but it was still somehow attached to his head. The skin was missing from the jawbone so you could see the milky white of the bone and teeth. The cut that was made covered his old scars and further, all the way over his cheeks. The skin holding the bone was stretched.

That was when he spotted bloody scissors in the Joker's limp hand. 'Syn made him do this himself…' Batman realised, too shocked and sickened to do anything.

He moaned out again, so weakly for the criminal.

The Batman didn't know what to do, what could he do?

The Joker began faintly coughing; blood bubbled and run out of his exposed throat.

"W… Wah…" He started.

Batman wanted to stop him, to say 'no, don't speak.' But he couldn't make any words appear.

"W… Wah-k-k-k…"The Joker struggled. "W…ay-k-k uh-p-p."

'Wake up?'

Suddenly, The Joker surged forward; black pits stared deep into Batman's blue eyes, his mouth suspended in a silent scream. Batman lost his balance and fell onto his back.

* * *

><p>He gasped suddenly and sat up. He looked around, sweating and panting slightly, he was in his room, on his bed with Alfred looking down at him, concerned.<p>

"Are you alright sir?" He voice sounded slightly shaken.

"Alfred. Yes… I'm… Yes." Bruce said, relieved. "What are you doing here?"

"Its two o'clock sir, I thought it was time to get you up before you slept your life away, but you wouldn't… Wake, I mean."

He nodded, he couldn't wake up. This was the second time. _'But a least it was a dream. I still need to go back, I shouldn't of left.' _He rubbed the sweat off his head. Worry grew as he thought about the Joker back in the factory. The dream felt so real. He had forgotten he came home when Dr. Skuld wasn't there, he had forgotten the Joker. How could he be so foolish?

It wasn't like him, what made him not remember?

When he came back to reality, Bruce found that Alfred had left, leaving him to his thoughts.

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><p>Bruce walked down the hallway, fresh after a nice long shower, he was dressed in an old hoodie he'd found, jeans and trainers. He found Alfred looking out of the floor-to-ceiling window.<p>

"You need to go out as Bruce Wayne, sir. People might get suspicious."

"I would, but I can't, this is too important. I don't think I could concentrate or put up with someone hanging off my arm chatting about something I would never care about in a high pitched voice." Bruce paused for a moment, taking a breath, "I'm going out."

He didn't get an answer.

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><p>Bruce picked out one of his least expensive and noticeable cars. He drove to the edge of Gotham, not yet entering the Narrows. He was still thinking it through, whether he should or not.<p>

He decided he would. Before he got out of the car, he flipped his hood up, looking out of the window incase anyone recognised him.

Bruce stuffed his hands into his pockets and sauntered his way into the Narrows.

He knew it would be easier to go at night, when no one was around but he couldn't get that… alarming image out of his head. It was like it was imprinted on his brain forever.

He stayed in the shadows, just like he's done every night, just not as suspicious looking.

There were a couple of people scattered here and there, sitting on the dirty floors or digging for food, he never knew why the homeless people were still living here. He thought most of them would have left because of Crane's fear toxin, but just like most people in Gotham; they were trapped.

He kept his head low but still keeping a look out for anything out of the ordinary. While making his way towards the factory he saw nothing until there was a flash of purple that caught his eye. At first he thought it was the Joker but as he stalked closer and leant against a brick wall near to where a group of males where sitting, he remembered that the Joker didn't have his jacket, and nothing was that purple except his trousers, but Bruce was sure it was a coat.

And the Joker wasn't that short.

Bruce recognised the group; he remembered looking for them while researching the murders of the other two gang members. He was surprised they had survived this long.

The youngest (who was wearing the blazer) sat on the floor; loosely holding his knees with a distant look on his face, some part of Bruce wondered why he was still part of the group.

The other two sat in silence, the biggest and most built of them had some bruises forming on his face, whereas the second was composed, almost… Creepily so.

Bruce recoiled when he saw that the second was staring straight at him, he lowered his head, hoping he didn't recognise him.

"Are you ok?" The henchman asked, softly, like it was in his nature.

Bruce nodded mutely, and moved away; walking down the street. He didn't get very far as he was pushed to the floor. He looked up once his vision cleared; it was just one of the residents of the Narrow, looking at him menacingly. He suddenly realised it wasn't such a good idea coming down here with it being morning. He was just so distracted lately.

Immediately, he jumped to his feet; subconsciously getting ready for a fight.

He caught sight of some other thugs coming up from behind him, they had weapons; old baseball bats and rusted pipes.

"I ain't seen you around here before. This here's my turf, and you ain't wanted snoopin' around." He spoke in a gruff voice.

'Keep in character, Bruce.' He thought to himself.

"Look, I don't want any trouble, I'll leave…"

The brute grabbed his arm roughly, "Yeah you will, but not before I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget."

Bruce threw a punch, aiming to disorientate. His arm was released but quickly caught again by another thug and was turned around.

He got hit from behind, right across the side of his head; he numbly hoped it was the baseball bat.

Bruce fell to his knees, unable to hold himself up for the moment, and waited for the second of many blows, but it never came. He blinked slowly, and saw the biggest former clown standing in front of him, his attacker on the floor.

"What the hell is your problem?"

"He's my problem. Strutting around like he owns the place." The aggressor pointed at Bruce.

The smallest joined his team member, "Well, you don't really own this place either."

"Stay out of this kid, if you know what's good for you." He growled out.

Bruce climbed off the floor and stumbled sideways slightly; this gave his attacker the advantage and grabbed him again.

"I'll give you this chance to get out, but if I see you here again your body will never be found."

He heard a gasp from behind him and a sharp tug on the back of his hoodie. He was pulled backwards just as a huge block of brick seemingly fell from the top of the building they were standing near.

The brute was crushed under the force of the hit; his body looked like it had exploded. Those close enough could hear the cracking of bones and squelching of flesh and organs. His blood was sprayed everywhere, covering the brick wall behind and Bruce and the group in front.

There were a few screams from the residents of the Narrows, but others seemed to ignore it, like they had seen this happen everyday.

'They probably have.' Bruce thought.

Bruce quickly looked up at the top of the building just in time to see a shadow –maybe silhouette? - quickly run out of view.

Behind him, the group saw the exact same thing. They looked among themselves then at the mysterious man they saved.

"Chuckles." Pipsqueak whispered, "Was that meant to be for him?" He nodded to the hooded man.

Chuckles shrugged and stared at JoJo who was asking the man if he was alright again. "I dunno, but apparently JoJo thinks he's important." He whispered back, gesturing towards the two.

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><p><strong>Sooo, what do ya think? I was going to get Bruce to go to the factory but then I remembered that he was <strong>**_Bruce, _****so I think I'm either going to make him go home or hang out with my clowns, yeah...**

**(L; Thanks for the help and great review [yes, it makes up for the lack of one last chapter]. A cover for the story? Sure, knock yourself out, if you still wanted to, I don't mind... Don't actually knock yourself out, I would feel really guilty if you did XD).**

**Reviews are good, please and thank you.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Hey guys! Hope you had a nice christmas, sorry this chapter took so long to update and i apologise before you read it because its full of unneccerssary talking :/ yeah...**

**Well hope you like it anyway, read on!**

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><p>Bruce wiped his face with the sleeve of his blue hoodie. Streaks of blood stained the fabric when he finished. He struggled to get to his feet as he felt a rush of dizziness wash over him.<p>

"I think you should stay sat down." Someone said from behind him. The young one, Pipsqueak, if he remembered correctly, Bruce had read the files. He could laugh at the Joker and his name giving.

"No, I'm fine." He said, finally getting to his feet. He pulled at his hood just to make sure it was covering his face.

"So that was a bit crazy, weren't it?" Pipsqueak said, breaking the silence.

All he got as an answer was a couple of stares from Bruce and Chuckles and a small laugh and nod from JoJo.

"I think someone wants you dead." Chuckles grabbed Bruce's shoulder, perhaps a gesture of sympathy.

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

'If only these guys knew, they have been the few of many who want me dead.' Bruce thought.

The group started walking, Chuckles dragged Bruce with them. He looked back at the mess that was talking to him just a moment before, then he let himself be pulled down the road.

"I hate living here too." Pipsqueak sighed.

"Your parents live here?" Bruce already knew the answer but it seemed like the teen wanted to talk about it.

"No…"

Chuckles and JoJo fell behind the two, letting Pipsqueak have his privacy. Telling something to a friend is tough even though they can comfort you but who's a stranger to judge someone? The younger just chose the easiest option.

Chuckles looked over at JoJo from the corner of his eye, and saw the corner of his mouth curve up slightly.

"What?" He asked.

"He needed to talk."

"Well why didn't he?" He looked over at the kid; he was still talking to the strange man.

"Who was he meant to talk to? The Joker?" JoJo laughed bitterly shaking his head. "I don't know why the boss let Pipsqueak join, but the kid was better off dead."

This shocked Chuckles, JoJo has always been the caring one, always there and always listened. He thought JoJo generally liked Pipsqueak.

"We aren't going to be there for him all the time, if we meet the Joker again he's going to come after us and whatever's in his body is going to choose the weakest out of us, and I don't know if I can keep protecting the kid. Not from him…" JoJo trailed off. He kept his eyes locked onto to the floor.

Chuckles was relived, JoJo didn't want Pipsqueak dead. He glanced up again and saw Bruce looking curiously at JoJo then he caught eye of Chuckles and sent a look of sympathy before turning back at Pipsqueak and answering a question.

This side of JoJo still freaked him out though, who knew he had such intense emotion? He was such a quiet person.

It was Pipsqueak's voice that broke the silence again. "Hey, have you seen that Pentagram? Pretty creepy, huh?" He said with a smile, eyes full of some form of happiness.

"That I have, yes. It is a very strange appearance." Bruce answered.

"I was thinking, what if it was some sort of portal to another dimension?!" Pipsqueak laughed.

Chuckles realised that this is how the kid was supposed to be like. Not the scared, timid boy that they all knew, he wondered if the teen had had any friends at all. Difficult to say considering he's a murderer too, no matter what people think of him, he has killed.

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><p>Bruce had found that he'd forgotten the Joker again; he felt the guilt grow for the second time that day. He knows he shouldn't blame himself, first there was the 'accident' (which he was going to look into, after finding the Joker), then spending the day with former gang members (how was he supposed to explain that to Alfred?).<p>

Right now, he was making his way home to change into Batman. Something Pipsqueak said had stuck in his head. He'd heard of the Pentagram, from the news like everybody else, but he hadn't gone and seen it, like he should of. But he decided he'll do it tonight.

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><p>Out it the cool air of the night, Batman made his way to the Narrows once more, using the roofs again for easy mobility (he needed to remember to ask Fox to rebuild his Tumbler).<p>

As he turned into another street, flashing lights on a nearby building caught his notice. He jumped off the building and used his grappling hook to swing himself onto the other side of the street. From his vantage point, he saw police cars covered the street like little ants.

Commissioner Gordon was standing back from the crime scene and the police force. This gave the Batman a chance to find out what was going on.

Balanced on the rail of the fire escape, Batman spoke in his rough voice. "Commissioner."

Gordon jumped a little and turned around, "Batman? Haven't seen you in a while."

"I've been busy." Batman said, leaving out detail.

Gordon nodded, "Have you heard the news?"

Batman stayed silent.

"The Joker was found outside the gates of Arkham."

That surprised him, but he didn't let the emotion show, "Injuries?"

"I haven't been told yet but he was found unconscious."

Batman noted the new information. "What's this all about?"

Gordon sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose, "Murder. They haven't stopped since this thing with the Joker. Do you know anything? Anything at all?"

The book came to mind first, but he hadn't had time to look at it yet, so he didn't know if it was relevant. He then thought of the actual murders, and from experience he knew who was behind the murders, "I'm certain the murderer isn't… Exactly human, he's a shadow; you can't kill him, hurt him, or touch him." A memory flashed back to when he was talking to Pipsqueak, he had said they had been attacked by a shadow. He had felt a little sorry for them at that time. They hadn't had a break since Syn first made himself known to the group.

Batman blinked the memory to find Gordon rubbing his eyes. He looked ten times older.

"Is there nothing we can do?"

Batman shook his head. They both were silent and Batman thought of leaving before the Commissioner said, "I've got more news, there is a survivor."

"A survivor?"

"She's in the hospital on the other side of the city, it's quite… gruesome."

"Can she talk?" Batman couldn't believe it, he was getting a lead. Must be his lucky day.

"I believe so. Are you going to see her?"

Yes. But he'd left before he spoke.

"She's in room 403. I would come but this is getting out of hand…"

Batman smirked from his position higher up on the building, he saw Gordon look around then sighing and giving a small smile himself before making is way over to Harlow, who had gotten into an argument.

Climbing back up the building he took a deep breath, before journeying to the other side of the city without a vehicle.

* * *

><p>Batman made his way to the side of the hospital of where he assumed room 403's window would be. He was already quite worn out because of the trip to this hospital but now he's got to climb four floors.<p>

He sighed and jumped up, gripping the brick and began to pull himself up the side of the building, grunting slightly as he did so. Luckily for him, the window to 403 was open, probably to let the occupant inside have some fresh air.

Batman slid off the windowsill without a sound, cape fluttered and settled around at his feet.

The room was dark but his eyes quickly adjusted to the lack of light and he scanned the area before stepping in. Suddenly the lamp light flickered on and Batman froze in place.

The lady on the bed crossed her arms and cleared her throat. "What is it you want?" Her voice was rough either from disuse or… Screaming. She had a defiant look in her eye.

"I apologise for waking you up, I just need some answers."

She gave a laugh, if it was mocking or not, Batman didn't know.

"They don't say how gentlemanly you are on the news."

"What happened?"

"If you want a diagnosis, you should have gone to the doctor, but, no… that's not what you're here for is it? You know more than you should."

"If I know more than I should then what's the harm in knowing more? I just want to help you."

"You can't help in a time like this, not against these things." She sounded more tired with every word. A sigh escaped her lips, "I was attacked, I had nothing to protect me."

"You have protection from them?"

"Yes but that clown. He took my… items. There is something wrong with him, not just mentally. I saw it, there's something powerful there, and evil. I wasn't looking for trouble when I became a doctor for that God-awful place." The woman rubbed her face and pushed her blonde hair out of her eyes, bandages covered her arms, in some places it had patched of pink-red where the blood has come through. "They just keep following me."

"The Joker's been found outside the gates of Arkham. Why would they want him there?" Batman asked, at least he was getting answers.

She sighed angrily, "Great… More work." She muttered to herself. "I don't now, maybe he took himself there?"

"Why would he do that?"

"He attacked Crane; he seemed pretty shook up about it. From his reaction, I would bet that it wasn't actually him. Maybe he's going to apologies? They seem to have some kind of friendship."

"I'll keep that in mind." Syn had put him through a lot, how is he not completely broken yet?

Before he could speak, Marissa continued, "If you find my items, give them back. If they get into the wrong hands, there will be dire consequences." She turned to face the bedside time table and flicked off the light.

'Conversation is over then.'

Batman walked over to the window and perched himself on the window ledge, "Thank you." He said before leaping down towards the earth, releasing his wings for a safe landing.

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><p><strong>See told you. Fuuull of talkin'.<strong>

**I dont' even know what's going on anymore... I think I've confused myself. Oh well.**

**Some part of this was meant to gore in it, i don't know what's happened.**

**Oh, and you can take this piece of work as a late christmas present, for those who want it. **

**(L; Thanks for the review, they really do help. The victim visit didn't really turn out the way I wanted, funnily enough. Ah well XD.)**


	27. Chapter 27

**Hello. Just to say, I think I actually like this chapter, yeah.**

**They're all teenagers in my head... It's weird I know... I don't understand either... Everytime I'm writing a chapter, I'm imagining teenagers... XD**

**Well, Enjoy!**

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><p>'So she has been followed by these creatures.' Bruce thought as he looked through the cardboard box, 'I just wish she explained more.'<p>

He was sat on his bed, crossed legged in a pair of pyjama pants, a soft blue light came through his window, warning him of the oncoming dawn. He knows he should be sleeping but there was just so much going through his head at the moment. He had the book on his lap, but the Joker was right, he didn't know what it said. It was in a language he had never seen before, he had checked his library, the internet, but still came up with nothing.

The cross was in there, he remembered it had burned the Joker when he'd touched it, that was most likely a reaction to Syn though, he'd thought about using it against him but it would still harm the Joker.

He had found a small vanished, wooden box, slightly red in colour. Inside was a tangle of thin chains and ropes, as he untangled them he found that they were different kinds of amulets. There was the traditional cross that, too, was made out of a smooth wood. Bruce had also found a small pentagram, with only one of its points at the top.

There was a lot more and Bruce figured that all these must be a part of Marissa's protection, the different symbols protecting her from different evils.

'This must have been going on for a long time.' He thought. 'Either that or she's paranoid.'

The thing that caught his eye the most was a 3 inch, see-through crystal. He picked it up and held it up towards the ceiling light. A little rectangle of multicolour was projected onto his wall. The light it gave off wasn't very bright, it was only faintly there.

The small rock intrigued him however before he could look at it more, a huge yawn ripped through him, and he decided to call it a day, or night.

He carefully placed the objects back into their container and placed it on the floor next to his bed.

A couple hours of sleep is better than no hours sleep.

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><p>"Get up."<p>

The Joker groaned at the sudden noise disrupting the almost peaceful silence. He tried to turn onto his side and ignore the speaker but he found that he couldn't, he couldn't move his arms or legs, he didn't care about the pain that would have shot up his body, he just wanted to stay asleep, just for a while longer.

"Get up." Came the echoing voice again, it seemed more stern this time like he was losing patients.

The Joker kept his eyes shut but it was no use, he was slowly coming back to consciousness, all the broken bones and aching muscles gradually getting more painful, he silently willed the other occupant in the room to leave.

He heard the person huff in annoyance and then muffled foot steps moving closer to him, sort of like hearing someone moving from behind a closed door.

"Syn, are you still in there?" The man said in a sing-song voice. He gripped the Joker's splintered arm harshly. "You better be."

The clown gasped and his whole body tensed until his arm was released. He grit his teeth and opened his eyes, a dark, blurred blob of black was the only this he could see, at first he thought it was Batman but then as his vision improved he saw nothing but black.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty."

"What?" The Joker began looking around frantically, seeing only the fluorescent lights on the metal ceiling. He tried to move his limbs again, only by looking down could he see that they were held down by straps that wrapped around his wrists and ankles, the Joker also saw that he had new bandages on both his arms and just under his left knee, where his bullet wound was. "You! What's going on? Where am I?"

"You're in Arkham, don't ask why, I need Syn so I can find out." He crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side slightly.

"Haha, what? Something not going to plan? That's why I don't _plan_ things, something always goes wrong." He grinned at the shadow, while trying subtly to slip his hands out of the straps. "Oh, is it the box? Huh? Gone missing has it? Oopsie." The Joker broke out in a fit of laughter.

"We know who's got it, Joker. Syn, get out here!"

The Joker slid his hand out of its confinements and made a grab for the shadow, however he disappeared before appearing again by the door.

The Joker felt pain burn up his spine, like red hot, liquid fire was climbing up to his skull. Blood started to pour from his nose and his body started to shake.

"Hurry it up, Syn." The shadow sounded bored.

The Joker started rubbing his eyes hysterically; every time he blinked, his green irises became increasingly red until they were completely crimson. Syn ripped the straps off his wrists and ankles off like they were made of paper. He swung his legs over so he was sat on the edge of the bed.

**"So, what's you're problem then?" **Syn grinned at the shadow man.

"You should stop doing that; it looks like he can't take much more of it." He said, stepping forward.

**"Oh, come on. I was only having a little fun." **Syn began swinging his legs.

"Why are you here Syn? We don't need this place yet."

**"The Joker doesn't like it here; I wanted him to freak out. I didn't expect you to be here."**

The shadow grew angry, the wisps of smoke that formed around him darkened and waved more violently. "You need to stop messing around. This is the fate of our kind, to finally be rid of these worthless mortals and you're treating it like a game. And to add, you lost the box, which you need to get back."

Syn stopped swinging his legs, his eyes narrowed at the shadow creature. **"Well I don't see you doing anything, why don't you get the box; you know who the 'Batman' is."**

"I would, but I can't go near it, remember? _You're _the one with the human body."

**"Then why don't you get one?"**

Syn knew he had a comeback but he just leant back on his hands and began swinging his legs again, looking up at the ceiling. He let his mind wonder, he doesn't get to do it often, he was usually too busy searching his hosts mind; he had a… Interesting past. Syn liked looking through it. The Joker's mind was like his personality; all jumbled up and doesn't make any sense. From the parts that he's seen so far, he can guess that his past was very gruesome. He would have felt sorry for him if he had that kind of emotion.

"Are you listening to me?" The shadow's voice brought him back to the present.

**"No, not really, what did you say?"**

"Get out."

Syn's eye's widened and he glared at him. **"What?" **He growled out.

"You've changed, get out of his body. Choose another, just let him go."

**"No." **Syn said.

"Just do it or I'll have to tell-"

Syn jumped from the bed and pushed the shadow to the wall; he walked right up to his non-existent face and snarled at him.

**"You don't need to tell anyone, we'll get this done. I'll get out of this place, I'll get the box and everything will be done on time. Alright?"**

Syn felt agitation radiating off the shadow but nonetheless he nodded.

No one had time to say anything else as the door opened and a Arkham doctor stepped into the room.

The shadow quickly dissolved into the wall and Syn gave up control of the Joker, who fell to the floor like a ragdoll.

The Joker's head hit the floor with a sickening crack; he groaned and stared up with dazed eyes. His hands went to the back of his and rubbed softly; he turned his head and saw a man in a white jacket staring down at him with a shocked look on his face.

"How did you…?" He trailed off, looking at the bed.

The Joker followed his gaze, which was quite difficult as the upside down angle made his vision swim.

"Uh, surprise." He exclaimed weakly.

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><p><strong>I need to ask a favour of you guys, do you think the shadow thing needs a name? If so, I could use some help... Please.<strong>

**Anyway, hope you liked it and I'll see you next chapter.**

**(L; You had a dream... about my work... That kinda creepy and cool at the same time :D You know, I might use 'Another Victory' for something XD. I had no idea how much my story had influenced you life and I don't know if i should apologise or not. Also, you have some weird mood swings... just saying XD Hope you enjoyed!)**


	28. Chapter 28

**Oh, what have I done... Ok here's another chapter for you, sorry for the long wait. So the chapter might be a little off, but I wrote it at different times so, what I might have been feeling at the time of writing the first part of this chapter is different to the second part... Yeah. Urgh. I don't know if I like what is happening at the moment... But whatever. I was so stuck on this chapter, I actually wrote a short fanfic, turned out to be a bit over 2000 words but yeah (I posted it if you wanted to check it out...). What I want to know is, why can't I write that much for this story? XD**

**Well enjoy.**

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><p>This time, when a guard chucked an orange Arkham jumpsuit at him, the Joker didn't bother putting it on. He sat down on the floor, leaning against the bed, carefully picking it apart. Somewhere in his head, he was imagining it was a person, probably the Bat, the Joker wasn't very happy with him at the moment. Until he had removed all of the stitches in an area, the clown started violently ripping the fabric. He even began using his teeth, he didn't question it, it felt almost natural to him now, he blamed Syn for that.<p>

His stomach growled at him. He looked down and 'shh'ed it, "We're at Arkham now, you know you don't get food here."

He rubbed his splintered arm as he strained it while shredding the fabric, the doctors told him to get back on the bed and not to touch anything but it has started hurting again, he couldn't help it. The numbness in his snapped fingers made it difficult to pick the stitches; it frustrated him except he had no energy to show it. Only picking and tearing.

There was a shadow in the corner; it was darker than the rest of them. It moved slightly, like it was breathing, the Joker ignored it. It disappeared sometimes, leaving a normal, lighter shadow in its place. He was glad when it left, when it was gone, he didn't have the feeling of being watched.

The Joker didn't know how long he was in the room for, but he guessed a couple of hours, and all he'd done was litter the floor with orange pieces of fabric. Well, and getting annoyed with his rumbling stomach. It was starting to hurt now; cramping every now and then.

The light flickered above him, and snapped his head up. He stared at the light until it did it again. It wasn't just the one light either, it was all of them. Every flicker plunged him room into darkness. A thought came to him then, where were the doctors? They wouldn't let him starve, would they? Maybe they assumed he was asleep.

Maybe they aren't coming. The dark thought passed through his brain, and he knew for a fact it wasn't Syn.

He got up to his feet, using the bed as support (not that it helped a lot, his arms were still weak), and wobbled over to the door. He leant on the door, his legs struggling to hold his own weight. However the metal door fell open and the Joker tumbled to the floor. He grumbled and rubbed his eyes. Blinking, he looked forward; the hallway looked like how he remembered… But it was different. It was monotonous in colour; grey, black and white. The lights flickered here as well; the floor and walls were covered in grime. All in all, the place looked abandoned, or at least uncared for, and very eerie.

A confused look donned on the Joker's face, he rubbed his eyes as if that would fix the scene before him. He scrambled off the floor, legs shaking, and glanced back at his room, wondering he should go back. A clatter of something falling brought the Joker's attention back to the corridor before him. He searched the darkness for… anything really. There were no guards, doctors, or even the mindless chatter of the inmates.

The quiet seemed to grow louder and louder until it almost reached white noise. It was quickly becoming unbearable. The Joker almost wished the thing that made the noise would come back. He unsteadily moved through the hallway, bare foot and avoiding the dirt on the floor. He moved as silently as possible down the hall, he didn't know what was happening but he didn't question it. He briefly wandered this whole thing was Syn's doing, but he wasn't feeling any more in pain than he already was so he dismissed it.

Following the direction of the clatter noise, the Joker squinted at the darkness ahead, the light path seemed to just end, leading into a void of black. He was hesitant in continuing but he did it anyway, this could lead to a way out.

Slowly, he descended into the darkness, the square of light slowly disappearing behind him. Noises gradually increased around him, they sounded like voices and static, he tried to focus on what the voices were trying to say but the static only got louder. He shook his head and covered his ears, it was like the sounds were inside his head, and they only increased in volume.

"No… Stop." His plea was ignored; it was like he stepped into an electronics store with broken TV's with crowds of people talking about it. He struggled to focus on something else as there wasn't much except for the cold floor against his bare feet and the sudden sticky-ness that he felt too. He stopped, 'What in hell is that…?'

Right then, the voices and static stopped and the Joker stood stiffly with his breath held. After a while, he began moving again, confident that nothing was going to attack him. 'Where am I? What's going on?'

"Syn?" He called out.

No answer, not even from the millions of disembodied voices. He was just left in the dark, trying not to slip on the wet floor, wondering if he should turn back. He didn't really want to know what he was stepping in, it had started to thicken and gather in sticky, soft lumps. A flash of light startled him to a halt, the whole corridor that he was walking in lead to a hall that he has never recognised before, the walls were wrong, instead of the white washed walls of Arkham, they were dark, dirt coloured stone. On the floor, the Joker finally found out what he was stepping in. There were dismembered bodies and they covered the floor in red.

"What…?" The Joker turned around to see the corridor was gone, he gulped. "No turning back then."

Most of the bodies were rotten; the putrid smell filled the room and almost made the clown gag. There were no flies, however, or rats, nothing that would be living in this sort of environment and benefit from it.

"Hello?" He shouted as he looked up at the tall cylindrical walls to the circular ceiling. The echo of his voice didn't seem to disappear. He stepped into the centre of the room and spun around to get a look of all the room, all around him was stone wall, there was no exit anymore.

He looked down at the bodies on the floor, and then something clicked. "Oh no, no, no. I don't want to find out what happened to these people nor do I want to experience it."

A deep rumble of laughter boomed through the room. The Joker's heart sped up in his chest. A dark shadow swirled on the tall ceiling above him; strands of black began to crawl down the walls. The smoke-like substance travelled down until it reached a spot in front of the Joker and out of the mist, formed a figure resembling a human. Except it was too tall, much too tall for the average person, it towered over the clown with a menacing air around it and the Joker knew this shadow was bad news.

A chuckle rumbled the room again, "You're chosen host is smart, Syn."

There was an awkward silence, for the Joker, but the overly tall shadow seemed to be patient enough.

The Joker swallowed, he desperately wanted Syn to say or at least do something, he was never this quiet (besides when he was observing the Joker's life), and it unnerved him to no end.

The Joker shuffled on his feet, this shadow was more intimidating than the human sized one that watches him sleep. He almost chuckled at the thought but the sound got stuck in his thought. He cleared his throat but didn't speak, what was he to say? One wrong word and his insides could be turned to tar by these shadows. The Joker involuntary shivered and stared blankly at the blooded floor.

The Joker prayed to anyone who was watching that he didn't make a mistake. He didn't really feel strong enough to do anything at the moment.

"Hmm? I heard from your… _Partner _that this body was affecting you with his 'madness'. So what's wrong, hm? Why are you hiding behind him?" The giant shadow said with a deep echoing voice, it sounded like he was trying to get the truth out of a child.

'Maybe he is.' He thought absentmindedly, he gasped abruptly from both the thought and the pain that brought him to his hands and knees. It wasn't the same sadistic feeling pain that lingered for what was like forever, it was pure anger. He could feel it and it burned, he gripped at the floor, trying to find something to grab onto but the bones and guts and flesh didn't help. "S-so fam-ily is-s a s-soft spot, huh?" He grinned manically as he felt Syn become more frustrated. He liked having this power over him, it reminded of the good times where he brought anarchy to Gotham. His head started pounding and every bone in his body felt like it was going to snap, in fact, he might have heard some already.

The tall shadow must have heard it too as he called out to Syn with a voice that seemed to create an earthquake. The pain appeared to hesitate before stopping. However, the Joker throughout his torture session didn't stop the few giggles that escaped his tight lungs. "Oh, Syn. You taking me to meet the parents already?" He whispered, "You haven't even bought me dinner yet." He wiped his blooded nose, and settled himself comfortably on his knees. He looked up at the towering shadow with a crazed grin, playing with a red covered bone in his hands.

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><p><strong>And... Yeah... Help... :(<strong>

**Reviews please? It would cheer me up...**


	29. Chapter 29

**Hey guys, sorry for the long wait,** **bad**** case of writers block. Anyway, it's kinda short but yeah... it's just getting stranger now. :D**

**So enjoy!**

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><p>Bruce, from the time he woke up, had studied even more into the crystal, trying to find a connection between it and the book, no, the whole predicament that he was dragged into. At times his mind did wander to the Joker's current situation, but he dismissed the thought, what more trouble could he get into? He was in Arkham, nothing out of the ordinary would happen. Bruce let out a breath and placed his shoulders on the desk in front of him and held his head. Hours he's sat here and nothing makes sense, absolutely nothing. The only conclusion he's come up with is that Syn and that other shadow demon want the box of objects desperately and Bruce cannot let them have it, he didn't want to know what the consequences were if they did.<p>

He was glad that he woke up normally today, no horrifying dreams and no struggle to wake up. It left him well rested and almost cheerful; Alfred had defiantly noticed a difference, although he had disapproved in working on the book nearly all day.

It was nearing 4:30pm and Bruce was studying the middle pages of the book, the very few pictures he had seen in the book weren't very useful, until he found this one. It showed a picture of a crystal in what seemed to be a beam of light; the crystal was glowing in the image next to it. Behind the glowing crystal, black figures struggled to shield themselves. However, on the other page the crystal was black and the dark figures were a lot more gruesome looking, like they had evolved.

Bruce looked at the clear stone sitting above the book he was reading, he stared at it like it held all the answers. Bruce, picking up the precious stone, walked over to the window and drew open the curtains, squinting as the light blasted in the dark room. He placing the gem on the windowsill and watched the light pass through it and the small rainbow that appeared behind it. He hoped this was the answer.

Bruce grabbed his cold cup of coffee and left the room.

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><p>"What are we gonna do now?" Pipsqueak asked.<p>

The hench-group were camped out in a empty house, it was still lived in but the owners weren't home yet. Chuckles grabbed a beer out of the fridge and sat on the couch and placed his feet on the coffee table. He saw the look that JoJo gave him from the corner of his eye, but he ignored it.

"I dunno kid, JoJo won't let us leave and I don't really want to get even more involved with this shadow business." He grumbled.

"So we're waiting for this to just… blow over."

"Yeah." Chuckles said simply. The liquid fizzed as he broke open the lid.

Pipsqueak turned to JoJo, who sat next to the dinning table, and was about to ask for back up when he saw his team mate was preoccupied by a cat that just strolled into the room. The grey tabby mewled looked around with yellow eyes, at the strangers in its house, it stopped at Pipsqueak, who sat on the arm of the couch, and jumped up at his leg.

The teen smiled and scratched at the cats head.

"Pipsqueak…" JoJo warned.

"Oh what? It's just a cat, I've always wanted one. Orphanage didn't like animals." Pipsqueak picked up the cat up onto his lap and stroked it behind the ears. A purr rumbled from the feline.

"Yeah JoJo, let the kid hold the cat, what's the harm?" Chuckles sipped the beer slowly, beginning to relax into the sofa. The loud purring filled the room; it almost made the atmosphere calmer. Until JoJo stated, "There is no cat food…"

"Huh?" Chuckles said, but before the quiet hench-man could repeat himself, he understood what he was saying. "So the cat doesn't _live _here, what's your problem?!"

Pipsqueak rubbed the cats' underside but he stopped and gasped, the cat stopped purring. He pulled back his fingers and paused, blood. Then he realised that wasn't breathing, the purring was forced noise. The cat was dead.

Just before any of them could speak, Pipsqueak yelped in pain and pushed that cat of him. The tabby turned around and with flattened ears and swishing tail, hissed at JoJo. Darkness seemed to consume the body of the cat, just before it reached the eyes, they flickered green before disappearing completely.

"Damn it…" Chuckles said, he signalled the rest of the group to the door at the other side of the room. They tried to move silently around the black feline figure that was now still as a statue. As soon as they turned their backs on it, terrible cracking and snapping sounds erupted from the small body but the cat itself was silent, not a sound came from the animals' vocal cords. Chuckles, JoJo and Pipsqueak all rushed for the door but was stopped by a solid barrier. They all took a step back, JoJo sneaking a look at the cat and turned back with a pale face, and looked at the figure that stepped into the room.

"B-Bulldog!" Pipsqueak gasped.

Bulldog stood lopsided in the doorway, grey faced and slit throat. His eyes had no whites or colour, they were all black.

"We need to get out of here, now." JoJo said.

"Yeah." Chuckles agreed while Pipsqueak nodded silently.

A thunderous growl rumbled behind them, the image they saw froze the blood in their veins. It wasn't a cat any more; the size of the animal was similar to a big dog or a small horse although it looked like neither. It had a thin, lithe body; obviously it was made for running, the long legs it had proved it too. Although it was built with a slender frame, the weapons on the creature were dangerous even to look at. Its claws on the front two legs were huge; just one touch on human skin could cut it like scissors to paper. It pulled its lips back on its long snout to show teeth that belonged to a shark, they were made to sink into flesh and break bones.

Pipsqueak sounded like he was near hyperventilation, his stare was locked onto the eyeless beast.

"You have to be quiet; Pipsqueak, its blind but it can hear you." Chuckles informed.

The youngest tried to calm himself down, but as the shadow beast sniffed the air and stalked closer Pipsqueak gasped and jumped back, falling into the dead Bulldogs grip. He instantly struggled.

"No, no, no. Let me go!" He shouted.

Before Chuckles and JoJo could say 'no!' the beast launched itself at the pair, its claws swiped at JoJo's stomach and its teeth sunk into Chuckles shoulder. Both cried in pain, both injuries gushed with blood that dripped onto the floor, staining the laminated wood red. Chuckles tried in earnest to dislodge the animal however it had a good grip on his shoulder, which was now dislocated due to the force and power of the impact.

Pipsqueak was in tears, he was pushed into the wall and the hold on his wrists were bruising, he could feel the bone rubbing together. He was muttering incoherent words under his breath. He opened his eyes that he didn't even know he closed and saw two black eyes look into his, Bulldog made jerky movements into his jacket pocket and pulled out a gun. He looked at it curiously, turning from side to side. The corpse placed the barrel of the gun to the centre of the teen's forehead. His heart skipped a beat and the only thing he heard was the ragged breathing that filled the room and the crunch of bone to his right.

'Chuckles.' He thought, a wave of sadness washed over him, 'We're not getting out of this one…'

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><p><strong>Here it is, yes a cat... Haha, I want one so bad but I got 3 dogs and they would eat it.<strong>

**I've missed these guys XD I feel sorry for them.**

**Reviews are wonderful. ^_^**

**[L, thanks for the review, they really do help, no worries about the lateness. I think I'm onto something about ****_why _****the murders are happening, yaay. Sorry for the lack of 'Joker whump' haha, oh well, you still got some kind of clown XD I'll get back to the Joker, promise! Anyway, this is good progress, yes? Yes.**

**By the way, your little note ont the end of the review is one of the best and coolest things ever! So J was you XD I had my suspisions.]**


	30. Chapter 30

**Hello? Yeah hi... Umm sorry for the wait. I feel really bad for leaving it for so long, but I like had no ideas and I've found out that I'm one of the most unmotivated people ever... But I've got... news, not really relevent for the story but it's almost my birthday, once again! Woo yeah!**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

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><p>"So you've figured it out then." Alfred said, washing out the coffee cup.<p>

"No, nothing is that simple. Because I can't read it, I don't know if there is something else I'm meant to do, or if it will even work." Bruce explained, grabbing his jacket of the back of a chair.

"But you're sure it'll do something."

"Yes. Hopefully."

Alfred merely nodded, "Are you going out tonight?"

"Yeah."

"Just be carful. Sir."

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><p>Batman raced towards the hospital, he had seen the blue flashing lights outside the building and Gordon who was pacing back and forth in front of his car. Batman sat and waited, observing the scene from his high up position, he didn't like that they crowded around the hospital.<p>

_Why is it always the hospitals? If this one goes then there will be no where for injured or ill people to go._

The Batman stifled a sigh and used the shadows to sneak down closer to the building, and Gordon, all the while keeping an eye out on anything peculiar; being in the shadows was now extremely dangerous because of the demons that lurked Gotham city.

Catching Gordon's attention, he braced himself for the worst.

"I wondered when you'll find your way here." The Commissioner said, after pulling himself into the sidelines unnoticed. He continued when the vigilante stayed silent. "We had a distress call from the hospital, some of the patients said that they had seen some 'dark figures' standing in their rooms."

"How long ago were they seeing these figures?"

"Not long, maybe a couple of days? A week at tops. But they are becoming more frequent. They didn't report it before because, well, the patients sickly but the caller had said something about the morgue… Noises?"

The Batman didn't like were this was going; however he nodded and asked, "Were they evacuated?"

Gordon swallowed, "That's the problem… There all gone, vanished into thin air. We sent in a team, lead by Harlow, and we haven't heard from them."

"You let him lead a team?" Batman looked over at the building. All the lights were off, making the tall building look all the more menacing.

Gordon sighed, "He's not a bad cop…"

Batman nodded, more worried about the patients than bantering about Harlow.

"I'm going to check it out." Batman said as he moved towards the back entrance of the building.

"Good luck."

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><p>The door creaked open loudly; the moonlight did little to brighten the dark corridor. He reached into his utility belt and pulled out a miniature torch, the light was strong enough to brighten up the end of the hallway. The darkness seemed to move out of the way of the light, like it wanted to get away from it and to take back the space it lost at the same time.<p>

Walking through the hospital was more or less like those horror movies, always hearing something behind you or seeing a figure in the corner of your eye, the Batman just ignored them; he figured it was just the dark playing tricks on him, literally, whatever this dark was, it was certainly to be like that shadow that seemed to follow Syn around. Maybe it was many of them. He shuddered at the thought.

He checked many rooms on the way to the morgue and as Gordon said, it was completely empty but what Batman noticed almost straight away was what the light didn't touch, everything seemed deteriorated and aged in the dark as if the life was being sucked out of it, another horrible thought.

While stepping out of another empty ward, Batman froze as his flashlight flickered. His fight-or-flight instincts kicked in; however in his head he knew that there was not a lot he could do in the situation. He knew because in the circle of light emitted from the torch, a dark shadow of a man stood, arms crossed and leaning slightly on one leg, and he would probably be smirking if he had facial features.

The Batman waited for him to say something but anger surged through him as the shadow just waved.

"What are you doing here?" He growled out.

"Observing." The shadow said with poorly-hid laughter in his voice.

"Observing what?"

"You."

Batman resisted rubbing the bridge of his nose; it was just like trying to get information out of the Joker.

"I don't have time for this, where is everyone?"

"Home. Well, most of them."

The Batman was just about to turn away when a thought stuck him. "I thought you couldn't be in the light."

"Oh silly humans, of course I can, I just prefer not to. We're harder to see in the dark; surely you know this better than most, right?"

The Batman just shook his head and moved the light away from the shadow and continued down to the morgue. But he wasn't alone; behind him he heard a low tune being whistled. Every step he took, there was a muffled, echoing one right behind it.

"Why are you following me?" Batman said without turning around.

"Following you? Oh no, we're just going to the same place, although if I were following you I would be doing so to see the look on your face." The mocking laughter was very clear in his voice.

A bad feeling grew in his chest the closer he got to the morgue, the feeling of dread.

Before he knew it, he was standing in front of the doors leading to the room where the dead are kept. He was about to push the door open when the sound of metal hitting metal boomed in the otherwise silent hospital. The vigilante turned the flash light to the wall, where he thought the demon would be. Its silhouette filled the circle of light.

It looked over at him and made a polite bow towards the door, "After you."

The Batman stepped to the door and slowly pushed it open. It creaked and a memory formed at the front of his mind from the resemblance of the situation, it reminded him of the dream he had a couple of nights ago, about the Joker…

He blinked rapidly to rid of it; he didn't need to think of that right now.

The sight of the room put him in shock; he stood there frozen in place. The walls and floor were red with blood, the equipment and tables were thrown around haphazardly around the room, there was glass littering the floor.

But what disturbed Batman the most was the piles and piles of bodies at the back of the room, some dead longer than others that were probably from the freezer containers in the morgue. He spotted some with a police uniform and guessed that he had found the team. The bodies were horribly mutilated and cut up; much of the bone could be seen under the shredded flesh.

"You haven't seen the best bit yet." The shadow said as he moved passed him. "Come on guys, time to wake up."

Over in the far corner of the room, and sudden jerky movement pulled the Batman's attention to it. It was one of the bodies struggling to coordinate its limbs but eventually it managed to provide its arms with enough strength to push itself into a sitting position. Dead, dull eyes stared over at the two; its head was crooked to the side unnaturally.

As the Batman moved his gaze away from the rising corpse, he spotted others slipping and stumbling over the blood and flesh. The Batman took a step back, his breath caught in his throat, "Wha-…"

The shadow beside him chuckled, "It has begun."

At that, a hand shot and gripped his neck, squeezing with unbelievable strength. He grabbed the hand and tried to pull it off, with no result, so he retaliated with a punch to its stomach, the corpse grunted but did not let go. The corpses' other hand clawed at the Kevlar. Batman noticed how close the others were getting and started walking backwards, pulling the dead patient with him. Getting desperate for oxygen, he rammed the dead man into the wall with enough force for it to finally let go. He raced down the hallway not looking back at the walking dead.

"Damn it." He breathed out.

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><p>Gordon is an information giver, he loves it. He knows that's all he's in the story for XD<p>

Alfred is still being stubborn for me and Bruce.

That shadow is more confident in him self, which is great. Good for him.

And Batman gets his spotlight (I suppose). He may still be a bit slow, sorry.

DEAD PEOPLE! It was going to happen at one point.

... Reviews? Yes please.

[JSML, Ha it's ok 'J' doesn't review anymore so you're good. Also I forgot to ask, who are S and M? You told me the other two and it just got me more curious :D And I would shoot myself with an imaginary gun if the ending was predictable or boring, I would be disappointed with myself if that happened. I just need a new brain and motivation, buckets of it.]


	31. Chapter 31

**Um... So ... Hey guys, well if there is still people out there... Sorry, for the extremly long wait... uh :( Well, anyway I hope you enjoy the chapter, I kinda got stuck on the beginning bit yeah...**

**Read away.**

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><p><strong> 'Joker… Joker! Get up.'<strong>

The clown groaned and tried to turn over, his heavy arms and uncooperative legs were painful to move. He struggled to answer Syn vocally, and he felt his consciousness wavering. Syn chuckled as the Joker went rigid with pain, the Joker's eyes shot open and his fingers scraped at the floor. From the sudden shock, the Joker's breathing turned into shallow gasps, somewhere between trying to tell the demon to stop and getting oxygen in his lungs. 'Hang on! Argh stop! … I-I can't feel my legs… I still have them right?' He thought, finding it easier to speak than speaking, smiling slightly.

Syn didn't answer, ignoring the clown's worthless ramblings.

**'Get up.'**

'You know, I wasn't kidding when I said I couldn't feel my legs.'

Syn growled, **'You have one last chance to get up before I make you.'**

'Why don't _you_ get _out_? All this wouldn't have happened if it weren't for you!'

Syn didn't give an answer; instead he started the painful process of taking control.

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><p>Syn stood up and dusted himself off, he kept a calm exterior but he could feel his legs shaking and aching and none of it was his doing, <strong>"I think they broke my toy…" <strong>He mumbled to himself. He huffed and shook his head at the disregard of other people's possessions from his kind. How un-thoughtful of them. Syn took a step forward, slightly wobbly on his feet from being light-headed, and hatred burned in his chest, the betrayal of his 'family' still was clear in his memory, they had lost faith in him, didn't trust him to finish the job. He growled before it turned into a chuckle, it almost grew hysterical before he realised what he was doing and shook his head. Silence filled the room and Syn listened for anything that could prevent his newly formed plan –no, idea- to escape from working, they must have someone keeping an eye on him… them, him? He disregarded his own confusion and searched for the exit. He spied an archway that was not there before to his right, either someone was going to come in or his 'father' was testing him again; he wrinkled his nose in disgust. Syn has always hated his father; he was good for nothing and always got in the way. And he was a dirty liar. **"Or am I that untrustworthy?" **Syn laughed, amused by his own thoughts.

"Who are you talking to?"

Syn glowered at the shadow leaning against the archway. **"Come any closer and I'll rip your throat out."**

"Silence, you're in no position in giving threats." The demon advanced toward Syn, "You can't do anything about it anyway."

Syn simply growled.

"Why don't you just leave the body? It's broken anyway." A cold finger poked at the scars on his cheeks.

Syn recoiled like he was burned and slapped the hand away, **"Don't touch him –No, Me!" **Syn hissed in frustration.

The other laughed darkly, "Why put up with the pain when you can take the easy way out? Although I admire your persistence."

**"I can do it, just let us – me go out there."**

"Your partner doesn't think so, nor does the Lord."

A scowl formed on the Joker's face however the scars distorted it into a horrid smile. **"You think I care? What are you doing here anyway?"**

"I'm here to force you, very painfully, out of the human, again."

**"You can try." **Syn sent a punch out, however the demon caught his fist and squeezed it tightly, the bones in Syn's hand rubbed together painfully. **"No, no, no, stop." **He gripped the others wrist, pulling away but the shadow had a tight grip on his hand. Syn glared up at the other with narrowed eyes. **"Get off me."**

"Not until you get out."

**"Why? I don't want to. I can to do it!"**

The shadow's hand whipped out and grabbed the back of his neck. Syn's whole body stiffened as he felt power as cold as ice and agonising as acid flow down his spine, everything became distant and fuzzy. His breaths became ragged when his lungs failed to function properly. The thumping of his heart thundered in his ears and the pace slowed down, he had gotten used to the rhythmic beating in his chest and he didn't want it to go. He desperately wanted to move away, to move any part of his body; he _wasn't_ going to lose this body. But this wasn't right, he wasn't meant to feel pain, not in this body, it was all meant to be directed to the Joker. **'What have they done?' **His vision began to blacken around the edges; he would have dropped to the floor if it wasn't for the tight grip on his neck holding him up.

Vaguely, he felt his arm twitch, and a noise escaped his throat that wasn't made by him before he fell unconscious.

"Pathetic." The shadow said as he dropped the limp body to the floor. He knelt down and rubbed his hands together, placing them on the Joker's chest. The clowns breathing became shallower as the cold, shadow's hands faded and pushed into his upper body. Green eyes shot open when he felt something tug and shift around his organs. The shadow began to recede and it was pulling something with it. It felt like his organs were being burned while ripped apart and out. There was horrible screaming in his head; it almost felt like his ears were bleeding. Had enough with all the pain and the guy who obviously didn't know what personal space is, the Joker, with the rest of his strength, grabbed the shoulders of the offending shadow and shoved him backwards. The pain stopped and the thing that felt like his organs, shifted back into place, like a cat getting comfortable on a chair.

The Joker sat up, struggle with his weak arms, and glared at the shadow, "I am _not _pathetic. The next person who calls me that is getting a knife down the throat."

He pushed himself up and leaned on the wall, not liking the way he looked weak on the floor. "So, uh, do I not get an apology?"

"How are you doing that?"

The Joker licked his lips, "Doing what?"

"Being conscious? No mortal could even survive the process of removing a shade from the body."

"Well, lets just say that I'm, uh, not like the others," the Joker took a deep, over exaggerated breath and smiled at the shadow before sprinting down the hallway past the open archway.

'So, they're trying to get rid of you Syn. And you almost let them. What happened? Given up?'

**'Shut up and drive. Look where you're going.'**

The Joker gave a chuckle and stopped to catch his breath, "I thought you were driving. I don't have di_rec_tions to this place. And when did you grow a sense of humour?"

The Joker grinned, he liked this Syn better than the other one, he was funny now! Footsteps thundered behind him, he turned to find six other shadows now chasing him, **'It doesn't matter, just run.'**

The Joker sighed in a 'here we go again' kind of way and took off down the hallway. "Still don'_t _know where I'm going, Syn. Help a guy out." The Joker paused, "Hang on… Where'd they go?! Uh, they know how to ruin someone's fun." He frowned.

Creeping back down the hallway, he noticed a doorway, "What's with all these appearing rooms?"

**'It's not your world; everything is controlled by the Lor-'**

"Dad, right. Does this mean he knows, uh, ev-erything?" He peeked around the corner into the newly created room, "What is that?"

In front of the huge assembly of shadows, a pentagram burned charring the wall black. The shadows shouted, growled and jeered at each other, becoming quickly impatient with the wait. They looked much bigger and fiercer than the one Syn usually sticks with. He imagines Syn looks more humanoid like the other than these beastly monsters. These guys look like they were built for killing. Great.

"Looks like a way out."

**'Only if you want to be burnt to a crisp, your body wouldn't survive that.'**

The Joker huffed. "I want to go. Now."

The flames suddenly flared, burning brighter and hotter before the fire swirled and filled the circle. The shadows roared and cheered before charging towards the mass of swirling fire.

"… Is that the same pentagram that showed up in Gotham?"

**'It's part of it. This is the second half. They are conne-'**

"Connected, yeah. So, uh, where's the way out?"

"There isn't one, unless I let you go." Boomed a voice that both the Joker and Syn had heard before.

"Ooh, here we go." The Joker chuckled. He strolled into the emptied room and sat down in the centre, legs out stretched before him. He sighed happily. "So what do you want?" After a long silence, he stated, "To get back to Gotham."

"I'm impressed with your endurance, Joker; you're not like the other hosts."

"Yes, yes thank you. We all know that I'm impressive. But what is it that, uh, _you _want? No one just talks to me to… admire me."

"I have decided that you could be useful. You will go back to Gotham, and collect objects that you once had, now in the hands of, what do you call him? Bat Man-"

"Oooh, Bats!" The Joker giggled at the mention of his favourite person in Gotham.

"Kill him."

The Joker paused. "Huh?" He looked up at the ceiling, the direction of the voice.

"Kill this Bat Man, he is interfering."

"Uh… But I…"

**'Just agree, this is our only chance!' **Syn hissed harshly.

'But I don't wanna kill him. What would I do then? Nothing! Everything would be boring!'

"Do you understand?"

"Uh, I, um… Yes." He said after Syn shot a warning grip on his ribs.

"Excellent." As the words echoed in the room, a dark hole appeared in the wall where the archway was before.

"Is that our queue to go?"

**'If you don't move, I will make you, then snap your legs afterwards.'**

"Okay." The Joker scrambled to his feet and limped to the dark space in the wall. His bare feet slapped against the cool tile flooring as he padded along in the darkness. There were a few spots of light in the distance and the Joker sped up to a jog. After what seemed like an age, the hallway that the Joker's room was kept in appeared and he slowed to a stop. Blood splattered against the walls and flooring, screams from other parts of Arkham bounced off the walls.

"Hmm, this is not how I left it." The Joker said, observing the walls, "I should decorate me cell like this." He nodded.

**'Concentrate, get out of here-'**

"Nope. There's somewhere I need to go." And the Joker set off down a hallway, slipping slightly on the blood. He hummed a random tune and run his hand along the wall, collecting the blood. "Very important." He mumbled to himself. He spotted a body of a doctor that worked there, white coat splattered with red and organs ripped out of his stomach. Further down the hall were parts of limbs: hands, feet, eyeballs. The Joker gave into his urge and kicked the random limbs down the hall. As he turned a corner, he froze, there was a group of doctors and nurses and guards, but they were standing limply, like they had no purpose. The Joker turned and continued down the adjoining corridor.

"Not that way…"

A flash of darkness sped past him. The Joker sped up. He came across another hallway with doors on either side. He stood there for a while looking at the sign. Hospital wing. Nodding and moving towards each door, checking inside. He stopped at one and grinned; the door was still closed but had a lot of dents in it. The Joker held the handle and pushed down but found it was locked. A frown appeared on his face and he kicked the door open, it smashed against the wall. He walked in slowly, noting the empty bed. He skimmed the room before knelling down and pulling the bed sheet up. He sighed and stood up. Nothing.

A shout startled him out of his thought and the hit to the head with some sort of thin material was just annoying. He turned and swiped the feet of his attacker off the floor, the body hit the floor with a thud. The Joker smiled when he saw who had hit him.

"Hiya Spooky!"

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><p><strong>If you don't understand, 'Spooky' is what I call Scarecrow or Crane, so yes, I finally got Crane in the story XD<strong>

**[JSML (If you're still reading), I'm soo sorry, I remember what you said earlier about this story having 'very much affected my life and made an enormous impact' from a previos review. Though I might have remembered a bit too late... Well I just want to thank you for the uh, tips, some of them made me laugh XD hope you enjoyed.] [P.S, Thank you for the info on your name, very cool.]**


	32. Chapter 32

**Sup guys. Look a chapter! This early? I know, I know, suprising. I think I like this chapter, yeah. Well, anyway...**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>"Joker? You're still alive? Interesting." Crane narrowed his eyes as he got to his feet, dusting of his orange Arkham jumpsuit. "Although by the way you look, you shouldn't be."<p>

The Joker looked down at himself, he lifted both his arms to the side in a up and down motion, they both ached, his bite mark was still not healed properly and most likely infected by now, and his other splintered arm and fingers still felt out of place. He dropped them to his sides again. His broken leg from the fall off the building still gave him a slight limp but the gun shot wound was probably the only thing that was on the way to actually healing. He felt extremely weak from whatever they were doing to get Syn out of his body but he could just ignore that, the adrenaline will help. "I don't see your point Spooky. What happened here?" The Joker gave a smile.

Crane wrinkled his nose and shook his head, "I don't know, doctors attacking patients, doors being ripped of hinges, patients getting out, and weird shadows everywhere. Nothing like I've ever seen. Happened just after they called a search to find you." Crane pushed his glassed up the bridge of his nose.

"Hmm, you're ok though, good." He mumbled to himself.

"Ok? _You _attacked me! I've been stuck in here-"

"I_t_. Wasn'_t_. Me." The Joker growled, then he grabbed Crane's arm with a grin, "we're getting out of here. Come on."

Crane regained his footing; however he still had trouble keeping up with the clown who had an iron grip on his arm. The blood covering the floor also made it difficult too.

"Where are we go-"

The Joker stopped and pressed his blooded fingers to Cranes lips, "Shh, Spooky. They're everywhere. They'll _hear _us." He finished with a whisper.

Crane grimaced and wiped away the liquid. He was dragged down the hall before he could say anything.

He still felt cautious around the Joker; the clown gave no reason as to why he attacked him and who's to say he won't do it again. And they were making so much progress, shame. He will have to ask later, right now it looked like he wasn't going to get answers, the Joker looked intent on getting to wherever they were going, silent and alive.

The Joker slowed to a stop and peeked around a corner, still hanging onto Crane's wrist, and pulled him down the corridor after he was sure it was safe.

**'The doctor? Really? That was what was so important?'**

'Yes, leave him alone.'

**'No promises.'**

The Joker frowned and clenched his fists, he only let up when Crane scratched at his hand, he mumbled an apology and led the way. The further they went down the hall, the louder a continuous scratching noise behind them got. Crane looked behind him frequently while the Joker was pulling him, but he saw nothing.

"Joker-" Crane started, but lowered his voice to a whisper at the look the Joker shot at him, "We're being followed, the exit's the other way."

"That's because we're not going to the exit, Spooky. Too, uh, _ob_vious."

Crane scoffed, "What are we going to do? Climb down the side of the building?"

The Joker's grin was enough of an answer and Crane started to pull out of the clown's grip, his bare feet squeaked against the bloody laminate floor as he tried to stop the inevitable trip down the side of a building.

"Don't worry Spooky! I've done it before. Com_plet_ely safe."

"With you? Nothings safe." Crane murmured.

The Joker cackled then hushed himself into silent chuckles that racked his shoulders. The rest of the trip was in silence, a part from the Joker humming or muttering to himself and both of them slipping at some point, making their breath catch in their throat, mostly just the Joker laughing at Crane while he slipped. They soon approached another closed; the cracked window said 'Dr. Marissa Skuld - Psychiatrist - office'.

The former doctor looked over at the Joker, waiting for any kind of explanation.

The Joker grinned and said, "She was my 'new' doctor. Very, uh, _sn_arky, I liked her."

Crane sniffed, "That's a first, what happened to her?"

"I think she's in hospital." The Joker let go of Crane's wrist and tested the door; it squeaked opened to reveal the office, left just as the Joker remembered, 'They must have had no reason to come in here.'

"I thought you said you liked her." Crane stated, following the Joker into the abandoned office.

"I, uh, didn't say I did it."

"Huh, that so? That's also a first."

The Joker smirked at his friend, and saw the corner's of Spooky's lips quirk up on his usually emotionless face.

**'This is sickening, get out of here already.'**

'What's the rush, Sssyn?'

**'The company you're going to get.'**

A low moan beside the door caught the attention of the two inmates. Standing limply in the doorway wearing a ripped and bloody, was a doctor. Or what was left of the doctor. Half of the flesh on his face was stripped to the bone, showing the eye socket (eye hanging by the stringy, elastic tissue), cheek bone and teeth on the top jaw. The doctor's ankle was twisted and pointing out underneath the skin.

"Heh, looks like he put up a fight." The clown remarked.

The corpse's good eye, blank, void of any iris and pupil, darted over to the Joker, head soon following.

"Eh, that's creepy." The Joker wrinkled his nose.

Crane hissed at the Joker, "Now would be a great time to follow your own rules-"

"Rules?" He licked his lips.

"_Advise _and shut up."

"Ouch, that hur_t, _Spooky." He frowned at clutched at his chest, where his heart would be, "What's wrong? It's only one, and _look _at it! Hee hee."

Crane shook his head, ignoring how it was looking dumbly at the Joker and swaying stupidly like it was out at sea.

He heard the Joker chuckled has he went and opened the window, struggling somewhat but he managed.

"Alllright! Let's go." The Joker called, but as soon as Crane looked his way, the walking corpse growled and jumped at him. Crane yelled as he fell onto his back, hands pushing at the dead doctor's shoulders, stopping it from snacking on his face.

**'Told you to go.'**

'Shut it!' The Joker thought as he pulled his leg back into the room.

"Joker, do something!"

"Are you kidding!?" He lifted up his arms for emphasis, "Broken!"

"I wasn't asking!" Crane grunted out.

The Joker searched franticly, for something to use as a weapon (he really needed to find his jacket), and there was no point in asking Syn, he didn't like Crane very much.

Instead he resulted in grabbing the zombie by the shoulders and threw it over by the door again. Before it got a chance to get up, the Joker placed his bare foot onto its chest, holding it down, and smashed its head in with the door, swinging it back and forth, spraying rotten blood on the floor and wall. Crane pulled the Joker back and they both just looked at it as it gurgled and sputtered. It went completely still when a dark mist evaporated out of the body and disappeared into the shadowed hallway.

"_What_ was that?"

"I'll, uh, explain later. We need to go."

After convincing Crane to get out onto the window ledge, and _then_ to climb down the wall, they both made there way to the main gate and the first thing they noticed was that the city, in the dark, night sky, was glowing. Not from the lights on the buildings, but from the fire that was blazing the city. It looked like doomsday had hit.

Using both of their strengths, they pushed the giant gate open and walked towards the city.

While walking, the Joker explained the situation, from his bump to the head, to the 'killing Batman' problem, all the while making horrible jokes and terrible puns that Crane tried to block out. This whole situation was difficult enough to comprehend with out being distracted by figuring out how the Joker thinks his jokes are funny.

"So, we find the Batman?"

The Joker nodded, "If he's not already _dead_."

"Where would he be?"

"His cave. Or wherever he is when he's _not _Batty." He barked out in laughter.

Crane shook his head.

"Orrr, my hideout."

Cranes eyes widened, "He knows where your hideout is?"

"I can get a_noth_er one. 'S not that hard. Lots of em_pty_, uh, buildings." The Joker waved a hand.

They continued to walk (in the Joker's case limp) down the empty road, it wasn't like the road to Arkham was busy but the invasion of shadows and the burning city ahead of them made the atmosphere eerie and uncomfortable. There was growling all around them and some heavy or scraping foot steps.

**'They know you're coming.'**

'Your father said I was useful. Are they, uh, going to atta_ck_?'

**'Yes, why would they make it easy for a mere human?'**

'And you, they don't like you much. But, hmm, we don't want it ge_tt_ing easy do we?'

Syn growled and the Joker laughed through the dizziness.

As soon they reached the edge of the city, they we're ambushed my moaning masses of corpses, luckily they had enough of the Gotham public to get lost in and use as human shields, pushing citizens in the way of grabbing hand when they got too close. The people's screaming filled the narrow streets to an almost deafening tone, they scurried around like ants and the Joker grabbed hold of Crane's wrist again. He pulled him into an alley.

"What? What's wrong?"

The Joker lent up against a wall, his arms hanging limply at his sides, "I can't feel my lungs… I need a vacation."

Crane smirked, leaning on the wall opposite, and crossed his arms, "How long?"

"I'm thinking, humm, a couple of weeks." He said with a nod.

A growl broke the conversation, a large shadow, with huge claws and muscles towered over them. It sniffed at the Joker's direction then at the former doctors, with a growl it jumped at the blue eyed man. The Joker pulled him back and sent a kick to the beast's jaw. Its head snapped back.

Crane ran towards the other exit but it was futile as it was blocked with corpses headed to them, he cursed under his breath. He looked for another exit before they were both eaten. His bright eye's focused on the fire escape above them. He jumped up and grabbed hold of a bar, on his second try, pulling down the ladder. He climbed it and pulled himself up to the platform, he called for the Joker, who had somehow found a rusted pipe and beat it down onto the shadow beast, however it only seemed to aggravate it. The Joker looked behind him then up at the doctor, some sort of black liquid on his smiling face. He gave one final smack to the beast and ran towards the ladder, just escaping the hands of the corpses.

"Up, up, up." He sing-songed, also signalling Crane to carry on upwards. The beast jumped up at the ladder but its weight proved too much for the metal and it collapsed letting gravity take down the shadow, the Joker watched and laughed at its feeble attempt of a chase.

Once the two reached the roof of the building, the Joker sat on the floor, legs stretched out before allowing his back to fall and land on the hard concrete, arms also stretched out.

"Urgh, I can'_t _feel _anything_. I, uh, could really use that vacation." He said as he licked his lips. "And I'm moving it up to eight years!"

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><p><strong>Soo, tell me what you think. Lots of talking between them, I know, hopefully the Joker and Crane are in character. I dunno.<strong>

**I will need to fix Syn at some point, yeah.**

**Oh, and hello to a new follower! "Hello!"**

**[JSML, Soo, speaking of apocalypses, woops XD Seems I can't get both the Joker and Syn to stay in character at the same time, why must they fight me! Oh that recommendation, no you didn't but I took a look anyway, veeery interesting, if i could write the Joker like that, I would be very happy XD And poor Joker and his dilemma's :D I'm sure he'll work it out, if not he's got Crane now!]**


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